New Control Structure of the 10 MHz RF System in the CERN PS

The 10MHz cavities comprise the main RF system in the CERN PS and the only one that allows acceleration. In total 11 tunable cavities (10 operational and a hot spare, grouped into 3+1 tuning groups and up to presently 6 voltage program groups) are distributed all around the circumference of the PS ring. Next to the RF drive signal each of the cavities is controlled by a voltage program and timing pulses to open and close the relays to short-circuit the cavity gaps. These control signals are presently generated by a dedicated hardware matrix. It translates voltage functions and relay timing pulses per cavity group into functions and timings per cavity. However, due to its central position in the RF beam control system, the dedicated hardware matrix can cause significant downtime in case of a major hardware failure. Instead of upgrading the existing obsolete hardware, this note suggests a replacement by standard controls hardware and dedicated application software. Thanks to advanced software concepts like “MakeRules” implemented with the InCA upgrade of the injector controls, voltage programs per cavity can be calculated on-line from the voltage program group functions.