The MTX data acquisition system

The diagnostic data from the MTX (Microwave Tokamak Experiment) are acquired and processed by an expandable, distributed, multivendor computer network. The system blends a variety of software into a coordinated, unified, and highly flexible design. Using modular software design techniques, a system stressing distributed processing, portability, and transparent data-access was created. Communication interfaces between modules and separated generic tasks from machine- and application-specific implementations were standardized. For flexible distributed processing, modular, portable software and an LLNL (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) facility that provides an interprocess communication system (IPCS) in the multivendor network was used. With transparent data access, any program can access data stored anywhere in the network without knowing the specific location. The computer hardware includes a DEC VAX cluster, HP workstations, and HP desktop computers. Commercial software is being used in addition to packages from MIT, ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) and LLNL