A microprocessor-based signal conditioning system for a magnetic confinement fusion experiment

A signal conditioning system, specially designed for the environment of a magnetic confinement fusion experiment, is described. This system, implemented in a 6U Eurocard board with four independent and differential channels and 12-bit resolution, provides galvanic isolation, amplification, integration and filtering functions. A remotely accessed microprocessor controls and configures the board parameters and monitors the signal saturation. Laboratory tests have led to results which are in good agreement with the design specifications. This system is being successfully used on the tokamak ISTTOK for the conditioning of the diagnostic signals.