Using EPICS I/O Servers (DSC Module or RT Module)

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LabVIEW 2009 Datalogging and Supervisory Control Module Help

Edition Date: June 2009

Part Number: 371618E-01

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The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of open-source software tools you can use to develop large, distributed control systems.

Note EPICS also refers to the architecture of such systems, as well as to the collaboration group developing the related tools. Refer to the Argonne National Laboratory Web site for more information about EPICS and to download the latest version of EPICS.

EPICS systems use the Channel Access (CA) network protocol to pass data between Channel Access clients (CACs) and Channel Access servers (CASs). The CA network protocol is a TCP/IP-based protocol.

Typically, a CAS contains multiple process variables (PVs). A PV represents a single value within a server and is the primary object of the CA network protocol. You can use CACs to read, write, or subscribe to PVs in an EPICS system.

EPICS I/O Servers in LabVIEW

In LabVIEW, you can create the following types of EPICS I/O servers:

EPICS Client I/O servers—Create an EPICS Client I/O server, which is a CAC, to monitor and update PVs on an EPICS network. You need to install the LabVIEW Datalogging and Supervisory Control Module to create an EPICS Client I/O server.
EPICS Server I/O servers—Create an EPICS Server I/O server, which is a CAS, to publish shared variables and CompactRIO I/O variables (IOVs) to an EPICS network. You can create VIs to manage hardware I/Os and process data for the EPICS Server I/O server. You need to install the LabVIEW Real-Time Module to publish CompactRIO IOVs.