New Architecture fortheRFX-modMachine

TheRFX-modmachinecontrol system, whichis currently entirely basedonPLC technology, isundergoing a majorreorganization, toimprove itssoftware versatility andto overcome increasing difficulties inlegacy hardware andsoftware maintenance. Thenew architecture willretain PLCs as1/0 interface, movingcontrol functions toanewPC-based layer, and will adoptJavaasprogramming language forcontrol tasks and graphical userinterface. Dataexchange willrelyonOPC and MDSplustechnology. OnePC will manage,underWindows, the OPC dataand theirexportthroughmdsip(theMDSplus transport layer), whereas other PCs,running either Windowsor Linux, will provide control functions andgraphical userinterface. I.INTRODUCTION