Current status of DIII-D real-time digital plasma control

This paper describes the current status of real-time digital plasma control for the DIII-D tokamak. The digital plasma control system (PCS) has been in place at DIII-D since the early 1990s and continues to expand and improve in it's capabilities to monitor and control plasma parameters for DIII-D fusion science experiments. The PCS monitors over 200 tokamak parameters from the DIII-D experiment using a real-time data acquisition system that acquires a new set of samples once every 60 /spl mu/s. This information is then used in a number of feedback control algorithms to compute and control a variety of parameters including those affecting plasma shape and position. A number of recent improvements to the control capabilities of the PCS along with general system enhancements have contributed to the advancement and understanding of fusion energy science at DIII-D.

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