The UNICOS-CPC vacuum controls package

The vacuum control of the Large Hadron Collider and its injectors is based on PLC and SCADA off-the-shelf components. Since late '90s, CERN's vacuum group has developed a dedicated control framework to drive, monitor and log the more than 10 000 vacuum instruments. Also, in 1998, CERN's industrial controls group developed the UNICOS framework (UNified Industrial Control System), becoming a de facto standard of industrial control systems and gradually deployed in different domains at CERN (e.g. Cryogenics, HVAC…). After an initial prototype applying the UNICOS-CPC (Continuous Process Control) framework to the controls of some vacuum installations, both teams have been working on the development of vacuum-specific objects and their integration, together with new features, into the UNICOS framework. Such convergence will allow this generic framework to better fit the vacuum systems, while offering the advantages of using a widespread and well-supported framework. This paper reports on the experience acquired in the development and deployment of vacuum specific objects in running installations, as a prototype for the vacuum controls convergence with UNICOS.