About EPICS
COMPLEX SYSTEMS
EPICS is a set of software tools and applications which provide a software infrastructure for use in building distributed control systems to operate devices such as Particle Accelerators, Large Experiments and major Telescopes. Such distributed control systems typically comprise tens or even hundreds of computers, networked together to allow communication between them and to provide control and feedback of the various parts of the device from a central control room, or even remotely over the internet.
HIGH BANDWIDTH SOFT REAL-TIME NETWORKING APPLICATIONS
EPICS uses Client/Server and Publish/Subscribe techniques to communicate between the various computers. Most servers (called Input/Output Controllers or IOCs) perform real-world I/O and local control tasks, and publish this information to clients using robust, EPICS specific network protocols Channel Access and pvAccess. These protocols are designed for high bandwidth, soft real-time networking applications that EPICS is used for, and is one reason why it can be used to build a control system comprising hundreds of computers.
FLEXIBLE AND SCALABLE
The Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory in the United States uses EPICS extensively within the control system for the accelerator and most of the beamline experimental stations. Eight hundred IOCs directly or indirectly control and monitor almost every aspect of the machine’s operation, while workstations and servers in the main control room and computer rooms provide operator interfaces to the systems, higher level services, and perform high speed data acquisition, data logging, archiving and data analysis.
EPICS ROADMAP
EPICS is developed through a collaborative open-source process where anyone is free to contribute to the EPICS family of software. In addition to this, heavy EPICS users – typically large scientific facilities – gather together in an open EPICS council to define a roadmap for the future direction of EPICS.
LICENSE
EPICS is provided under an open source license called the EPICS Open License, which is similar to the BSD license. See the Licensing pages for details and some history.