The real time plasma control system of Tore Supra

The Tore-Supra real time plasma control system, operational since 1988, was completely redesigned in 1995 with VME hardware and PowerPC processors monitored by a real time UNIX operating system (LynxOS™). Now, with five units interconnected through a fast shared memory network, a global plasma control has been built. Plasma current, shape, and gas control are already established and it is expected that control of the plasma current profile will be achieved before the end of 1997. The introduction of a specific unit with a graphic man-machine interface in the shared memory network is under development which will allow interactive verification of parameters. This new architecture is flexible and open-ended. It will enable interconnection to other Tore Supra systems such as those required for the long-term programme of long pulse (1000s) discharges.