ICALEPCS2023 - Table of Session: TU2A (Management)

Paper	Title	Page
TU2AO01	The Hybrid Identity of a Control System Organization: Balancing Support, Product, and R&D Expectations	303
	S. Baymani PSI, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
	Controls organizations are often expected to fulfill a dual role as both a support organization and an R&D organization, providing advanced and innovative services. This creates a tension between the need to provide services and the desire and necessity to develop cutting-edge technology. In addition, Controls organizations must balance the competing demands of product development, maintenance and operations, and innovation and R&D. These conflicting expectations can lead to neglect of long-term strategic issues and create imbalances within the organization, such as technical debt and lack of innovation. This paper will explore the challenges of navigating these conflicting expectations and the common traps, risks, and consequences of imbalances. Drawing on our experience at PSI, we will discuss specific examples of conflicts and their consequences. We will also propose solutions to overcome or improve these conflicts and identify a long-term, sustainable approach for a hybrid organization such as Controls . Our proposals will cover strategies for balancing support and product development, improving communication, and enabling a culture of innovation. Our goal is to spark a broader discussion around the identity and role of control system organizations within large laboratory organizations, and to provide concrete proposals for organizations looking to balance competing demands and build a sustainable approach to control systems and services.
	Slides TU2AO01 [2.129 MB]
DOI •	reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO01
About •	Received ※ 05 October 2023 — Revised ※ 07 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 18 November 2023 — Issued ※ 12 December 2023
Cite •	reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TU2AO02	Textual Analysis of ICALEPCS and IPAC Conference Proceedings: Revealing Research Trends, Topics, and Collaborations for Future Insights and Advanced Search	309
	A. Sulc, A. Eichler, T. Wilksen DESY, Hamburg, Germany
	Funding: This work was supported by HamburgX grant LFF-HHX-03 to the Center for Data and Computing in Natural Sciences (CDCS) from the Hamburg Ministry of Science, Research, Equalities and Districts. In this paper, we show a textual analysis of past ICALEPCS and IPAC conference proceedings to gain insights into the research trends and topics discussed in the field. We use natural language processing techniques to extract meaningful information from the abstracts and papers of past conference proceedings. We extract topics to visualize and identify trends, analyze their evolution to identify emerging research directions and highlight interesting publications based solely on their content with an analysis of their network. Additionally, we will provide an advanced search tool to better search in the existing papers to prevent duplication and easier reference findings. Our analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the research landscape in the field and helps researchers and practitioners to better understand the state-of-the-art and identify areas for future research.
	Slides TU2AO02 [12.762 MB]
DOI •	reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO02
About •	Received ※ 30 September 2023 — Revised ※ 11 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 18 November 2023 — Issued ※ 29 November 2023
Cite •	reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TU2AO03	A Successful Emergency Response Plan: Lessons in the Controls Section of the ALBA Synchrotron	316
	G. Cuní, O. Matilla, J. Nicolàs, M. Pont ALBA-CELLS, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain
	These are challenging times for research institutes in the field of software engineering. Our designs are becoming increasingly complex, and a software engineer needs years of experience to become productive. On the other hand, the software job market is very dynamic, and a computer engineer receives tens of offers from private companies with attractive salaries every year. Occasionally, the perfect storm can occur, and in a short period of time, several key people in a group with years of experience leave. The situation is even more critical when the institute is plunged into a high growth rate with several new instruments under way. Naturally, engaged teams will resist reducing operational service quality, but, on the other hand, the new installations milestones dates will approach quickly. This article outlines the decision-making process and the measures taken to cope with this situation in the ALBA Synchroton’s Controls Section. The plan included reorganizing teamwork, but more importantly, redefining the relationship with our clients and prioritization processes. As a result, the team was restructured and new roles were created. In addition, effective coordination was vital, and new communication channels were established to ensure smooth workflows. The emergency peak period is over in our case, but we have learned a lot of lessons and implemented many changes that will stay with us. They have made us more efficient and more resilient in case of future emergencies.
	Slides TU2AO03 [1.132 MB]
DOI •	reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO03
About •	Received ※ 02 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 19 November 2023 — Issued ※ 28 November 2023
Cite •	reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TU2AO04	Ensuring Smooth Controls Upgrades During Operation	321
	M. Pace, F. Hoguin, E. Matli, W. Sliwinski, B. Urbaniec CERN, Meyrin, Switzerland
	The CERN Accelerator Controls systems have to remain as stable as possible for operations. However, there are inevitable needs to introduce changes to provide new functionalities and conduct important consolidation activities. To deal with this, a formal procedure and approval process, the Smooth Upgrades procedure, was introduced and refined over a number of years. This involves declaring foreseen Controls changes as a function of the accelerator schedules, validating them with stakeholders, and organising their deployment in the production environment. All of this with the aim of minimising the impact on accelerator operation. The scope of this activity is CERN-wide, covering changes developed by all CERN units involved in Controls and encompassing the whole CERN accelerator and facility complex. In 2022, the mandate was further extended with a more formal approach to coordinate changes of the software interfaces of the devices running on front-end computers, which form a critical part of the smooth deployment process. Today, Smooth Upgrades are considered a key contributor to the performance and stability of the CERN Control system. This paper describes the Smooth Upgrades procedure and the underlying processes and tools such as schedule management, change management, and the monitoring of device usage. The paper also includes the major evolutions which allowed the current level of maturity and efficiency to be reached. Ideas for future improvements will also be covered.
	Slides TU2AO04 [1.506 MB]
DOI •	reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO04
About •	Received ※ 06 October 2023 — Revised ※ 10 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 14 December 2023 — Issued ※ 21 December 2023
Cite •	reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TU2AO05	Maintenance of the National Ignition Facility Controls Hardware System	328
	J.L. Vaher, G.K. Brunton, J. Dixon LLNL, Livermore, USA
	Funding: This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. At the National Ignition Facility (NIF), achieving fusion ignition for the first time ever in a laboratory required one of the most complex hardware control systems in the world. With approximately 1,200 control racks, 66,000 control points, and 100, 000 cables, maintaining the NIF control system requires an exquisite choreography around experimental operations while adhering to NIF’s safety, security, quality, and efficiency requirements. To ensure systems operate at peak performance and remain available at all times to avoid costly delays, preventative maintenance activities are performed two days per week as the foundation of our effective maintenance strategy. Reactive maintenance addresses critical path issues that impact experimental operations through a rapid response 24x7 on-call support team. Prioritized work requests are reviewed and approved daily by the facility operations scheduling team. NIF is now in the second decade of operations, and the aging of many control systems is threatening to affect performance and availability, potentially impacting planned progress of the fusion ignition program. The team is embarking on a large-scale refurbishment of systems to mitigate this threat. Our robust maintenance program will ensure NIF can capitalize on ignition and push the facility to even greater achievements. This paper will describe the processes, procedures, and metrics used to plan, coordinate, and perform controls hardware maintenance at NIF. LLNL Release Number: LLNL-ABS-848420
	Slides TU2AO05 [1.938 MB]
DOI •	reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO05
About •	Received ※ 03 October 2023 — Revised ※ 08 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 14 December 2023 — Issued ※ 14 December 2023
Cite •	reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TU2AO06	Accelerator Control Class for Graduate Students in SOKENDAI, KEK	335
	N. Kamikubota, K. Furukawa, M. Satoh, S. Yamada, N. Yamamoto KEK, Ibaraki, Japan
	The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, known as SOKENDAI, provides educational opportunities for graduate students in collaboration with national research institutions in Japan. KEK is one of the institutes, and has a program "Accelerator Science". Since 2019, we started two classes: lectures "Introduction to accelerator control system" for one semester, and a two-day seminar "Control of distributed devices for large systems". The former consists of 12 lectures on various topics of accelerator controls by teachers, followed by a presentation day by students. The latter consists of lecture and hands-on, which enables students to practice EPICS with Raspberry-pi based devices. In the paper, status of accelerator control classes are reported. 1) SOKENDAI, https://www.soken.ac.jp/en/
	Slides TU2AO06 [2.813 MB]
DOI •	reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO06
About •	Received ※ 02 October 2023 — Revised ※ 13 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 29 November 2023 — Issued ※ 13 December 2023
Cite •	reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

Paper

Title

Page

The Hybrid Identity of a Control System Organization: Balancing Support, Product, and R&D Expectations

303

S. Baymani
PSI, Villigen PSI, Switzerland

Controls organizations are often expected to fulfill a dual role as both a support organization and an R&D organization, providing advanced and innovative services. This creates a tension between the need to provide services and the desire and necessity to develop cutting-edge technology. In addition, Controls organizations must balance the competing demands of product development, maintenance and operations, and innovation and R&D. These conflicting expectations can lead to neglect of long-term strategic issues and create imbalances within the organization, such as technical debt and lack of innovation. This paper will explore the challenges of navigating these conflicting expectations and the common traps, risks, and consequences of imbalances. Drawing on our experience at PSI, we will discuss specific examples of conflicts and their consequences. We will also propose solutions to overcome or improve these conflicts and identify a long-term, sustainable approach for a hybrid organization such as Controls . Our proposals will cover strategies for balancing support and product development, improving communication, and enabling a culture of innovation. Our goal is to spark a broader discussion around the identity and role of control system organizations within large laboratory organizations, and to provide concrete proposals for organizations looking to balance competing demands and build a sustainable approach to control systems and services.

Slides TU2AO01 [2.129 MB]

DOI •

reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO01

About •

Received ※ 05 October 2023 — Revised ※ 07 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 18 November 2023 — Issued ※ 12 December 2023

Cite •

reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TU2AO02

Textual Analysis of ICALEPCS and IPAC Conference Proceedings: Revealing Research Trends, Topics, and Collaborations for Future Insights and Advanced Search

309

A. Sulc, A. Eichler, T. Wilksen
DESY, Hamburg, Germany

Funding: This work was supported by HamburgX grant LFF-HHX-03 to the Center for Data and Computing in Natural Sciences (CDCS) from the Hamburg Ministry of Science, Research, Equalities and Districts.
In this paper, we show a textual analysis of past ICALEPCS and IPAC conference proceedings to gain insights into the research trends and topics discussed in the field. We use natural language processing techniques to extract meaningful information from the abstracts and papers of past conference proceedings. We extract topics to visualize and identify trends, analyze their evolution to identify emerging research directions and highlight interesting publications based solely on their content with an analysis of their network. Additionally, we will provide an advanced search tool to better search in the existing papers to prevent duplication and easier reference findings. Our analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the research landscape in the field and helps researchers and practitioners to better understand the state-of-the-art and identify areas for future research.

Slides TU2AO02 [12.762 MB]

DOI •

reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO02

About •

Received ※ 30 September 2023 — Revised ※ 11 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 18 November 2023 — Issued ※ 29 November 2023

Cite •

reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TU2AO03

A Successful Emergency Response Plan: Lessons in the Controls Section of the ALBA Synchrotron

316

G. Cuní, O. Matilla, J. Nicolàs, M. Pont
ALBA-CELLS, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain

These are challenging times for research institutes in the field of software engineering. Our designs are becoming increasingly complex, and a software engineer needs years of experience to become productive. On the other hand, the software job market is very dynamic, and a computer engineer receives tens of offers from private companies with attractive salaries every year. Occasionally, the perfect storm can occur, and in a short period of time, several key people in a group with years of experience leave. The situation is even more critical when the institute is plunged into a high growth rate with several new instruments under way. Naturally, engaged teams will resist reducing operational service quality, but, on the other hand, the new installations milestones dates will approach quickly. This article outlines the decision-making process and the measures taken to cope with this situation in the ALBA Synchroton’s Controls Section. The plan included reorganizing teamwork, but more importantly, redefining the relationship with our clients and prioritization processes. As a result, the team was restructured and new roles were created. In addition, effective coordination was vital, and new communication channels were established to ensure smooth workflows. The emergency peak period is over in our case, but we have learned a lot of lessons and implemented many changes that will stay with us. They have made us more efficient and more resilient in case of future emergencies.

Slides TU2AO03 [1.132 MB]

DOI •

reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO03

About •

Received ※ 02 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 19 November 2023 — Issued ※ 28 November 2023

Cite •

reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TU2AO04

Ensuring Smooth Controls Upgrades During Operation

321

M. Pace, F. Hoguin, E. Matli, W. Sliwinski, B. Urbaniec
CERN, Meyrin, Switzerland

The CERN Accelerator Controls systems have to remain as stable as possible for operations. However, there are inevitable needs to introduce changes to provide new functionalities and conduct important consolidation activities. To deal with this, a formal procedure and approval process, the Smooth Upgrades procedure, was introduced and refined over a number of years. This involves declaring foreseen Controls changes as a function of the accelerator schedules, validating them with stakeholders, and organising their deployment in the production environment. All of this with the aim of minimising the impact on accelerator operation. The scope of this activity is CERN-wide, covering changes developed by all CERN units involved in Controls and encompassing the whole CERN accelerator and facility complex. In 2022, the mandate was further extended with a more formal approach to coordinate changes of the software interfaces of the devices running on front-end computers, which form a critical part of the smooth deployment process. Today, Smooth Upgrades are considered a key contributor to the performance and stability of the CERN Control system. This paper describes the Smooth Upgrades procedure and the underlying processes and tools such as schedule management, change management, and the monitoring of device usage. The paper also includes the major evolutions which allowed the current level of maturity and efficiency to be reached. Ideas for future improvements will also be covered.

Slides TU2AO04 [1.506 MB]

DOI •

reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO04

About •

Received ※ 06 October 2023 — Revised ※ 10 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 14 December 2023 — Issued ※ 21 December 2023

Cite •

reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TU2AO05

Maintenance of the National Ignition Facility Controls Hardware System

328

J.L. Vaher, G.K. Brunton, J. Dixon
LLNL, Livermore, USA

Funding: This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.
At the National Ignition Facility (NIF), achieving fusion ignition for the first time ever in a laboratory required one of the most complex hardware control systems in the world. With approximately 1,200 control racks, 66,000 control points, and 100, 000 cables, maintaining the NIF control system requires an exquisite choreography around experimental operations while adhering to NIF’s safety, security, quality, and efficiency requirements. To ensure systems operate at peak performance and remain available at all times to avoid costly delays, preventative maintenance activities are performed two days per week as the foundation of our effective maintenance strategy. Reactive maintenance addresses critical path issues that impact experimental operations through a rapid response 24x7 on-call support team. Prioritized work requests are reviewed and approved daily by the facility operations scheduling team. NIF is now in the second decade of operations, and the aging of many control systems is threatening to affect performance and availability, potentially impacting planned progress of the fusion ignition program. The team is embarking on a large-scale refurbishment of systems to mitigate this threat. Our robust maintenance program will ensure NIF can capitalize on ignition and push the facility to even greater achievements. This paper will describe the processes, procedures, and metrics used to plan, coordinate, and perform controls hardware maintenance at NIF.
LLNL Release Number: LLNL-ABS-848420

Slides TU2AO05 [1.938 MB]

DOI •

reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO05

About •

Received ※ 03 October 2023 — Revised ※ 08 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 14 December 2023 — Issued ※ 14 December 2023

Cite •

reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

TU2AO06

Accelerator Control Class for Graduate Students in SOKENDAI, KEK

335

N. Kamikubota, K. Furukawa, M. Satoh, S. Yamada, N. Yamamoto
KEK, Ibaraki, Japan

The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, known as SOKENDAI, provides educational opportunities for graduate students in collaboration with national research institutions in Japan. KEK is one of the institutes, and has a program "Accelerator Science". Since 2019, we started two classes: lectures "Introduction to accelerator control system" for one semester, and a two-day seminar "Control of distributed devices for large systems". The former consists of 12 lectures on various topics of accelerator controls by teachers, followed by a presentation day by students. The latter consists of lecture and hands-on, which enables students to practice EPICS with Raspberry-pi based devices. In the paper, status of accelerator control classes are reported.
1) SOKENDAI, https://www.soken.ac.jp/en/

Slides TU2AO06 [2.813 MB]

DOI •

reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-ICALEPCS2023-TU2AO06

About •

Received ※ 02 October 2023 — Revised ※ 13 October 2023 — Accepted ※ 29 November 2023 — Issued ※ 13 December 2023

Cite •

reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)