Our knowledge of distributed control systems, software, hardware, development of data transmission protocols, communication networks and systems as well as communication network processes is combined
with academic background.
As a research and development team we consider every project important, because it presents us with new and unique challenges from which we benefit in terms of experience and understanding.
Basic characteristic of a distributed system is that it combines many process units connected into a network grid which simultaneously solve a single specific task. The following list contains some
examples of distributed systems we have developed for our partners:
Developed in cooperation with ESO with the needs of a wide range of astronomical and accelerator control projects in mind, the ACS is a framework for
building complex control systems with data servers, process logic and management services. It uses and extends distributed computing and object-oriented concepts and significantly reduces developing
and testing time as well as increases reliability and maintainability.
In EPICS, a client finds a channel to connect to by issuing a broadcast message on a subnet. IOC’s hosting the channel then respond to this message. Though
this approach is very reliable and fast, it does have some drawbacks.
references
. A joint project between astronomical organizations in Europe, North America, and Japan, which will be located at an altitude above 5000m in the Chilean Atacama desert. ALMA will eventually
consist of at least 50 twelve meter antennas operating in the millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelength range, with baselines up to 10 km. Every antenna will produce 10 MB of data every second.
Cosylab has developed the infrastructure for the distributed control system for telescope named ACS, which after five years has become de facto standard for telescope control systems.
