Evolution of the top level control software of astronomical instruments at ESO

The Observation Software (OS) is the top level control software of astronomical instruments which is managing the actions during exposures and calibrations carried out at ESO (at various sites VLT, VLTI, La Silla, VISTA). The software framework Base Observation Software Stub (BOSS) provides the foundation of the OS, in use for a decade. BOSS contains 26000 lines of C++ code and covers the functionalities of a simple OS (configuration, synchronization of the subsystems, state alignment, exposure and image file handling). The need for ever increasing precision and speed imposes a consequent increase in complexity on the astronomical instrument control software. Thus makes the OS a critical component in the instrument design. This is reflected by the size of the BOSS applications varying between 0-12000 lines including additional scheduler mechanism, calculation of optical phenomena, online calibrations etc. This article focuses on the progress of OS and BOSS, and their functionality over time.

[1]  Frank Eisenhauer,et al.  The VLTI real-time reflective memory data streaming and recording system , 2008, Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation.

[2]  Keith H. Bennett,et al.  Software Evolution and the Staged Model of the Software Lifecycle , 2002, Adv. Comput..

[3]  Meir M. Lehman,et al.  On understanding laws, evolution, and conservation in the large-program life cycle , 1984, J. Syst. Softw..

[4]  David Mouillet,et al.  NAOS computer-aided control: an optimized and astronomer-oriented way of controlling large adaptive optics systems , 2000, Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation.

[5]  Paolo Santin,et al.  New direction in the development of the observation software framework (BOSS) , 2010, Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation.

[6]  Fred P. Brooks,et al.  The Mythical Man-Month , 1975, Reliable Software.

[7]  Brian W. Kernighan,et al.  The C Programming Language , 1978 .

[8]  Kevin Keating,et al.  Software Maintenance As Part of the Software Life Cycle , 2003 .

[9]  Hugues Sana,et al.  CRIRES: commissioning and first science results , 2008, Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation.

[10]  Roberto Abuter,et al.  Post-processing the VLTI fringe-tracking data: first measurements of stars , 2009 .

[11]  Paolo Santin,et al.  A common framework for the observation software of astronomical instruments at ESO , 2008, Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation.

[12]  Paolo Di Marcantonio,et al.  ESO-VLT Instrumentation. The Control Software for the FLAMES-GIRAFFE-UVES Observing Facility , 2003 .

[13]  Roberto Abuter,et al.  PACMAN: PRIMA astrometric instrument software , 2010, Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation.