Autonomous acquisition systems for TJ-II: controlling instrumentation with a fourth generation language

Recently, 536 new acquisition channels, made-up of three different channel types, have been incorporated into the TJ-II data acquisition system (DAQ). Dedicated software has also been developed to permit experimentalists to program and control the data acquisition in these systems. The software has been developed using LabView and runs under the Windows 2000 operating system in both personal computer (PC) and PXI controllers. In addition, LabView software has been developed to control TJ-II VXI channels from a PC using a MXI connection. This new software environment will also aid future integration of acquisition channels into the TJ-II remote participation system. All of these acquisition devices work autonomously and are connected to the TJ-II central server via a local area network. In addition, they can be remotely controlled from the TJ-II control-room using Virtual Network Computing (VNC) software.