A distributed system for fast timing and event management on the mast experiment

This paper describes an expandable and distributed system that produces the timing signals for the correct operation of the MAST diagnostic and data acquisition systems and performs the broadcast, processing and recording of the occurrence time of externally generated events for real-time control purposes. The hardware will be implemented using the VME and CAMAC standards. The software control interface will be incorporated in the MAST control and data acquisition system, allowing for an easy database access of the system timing parameters.