<s>
The	O
Experimental	B-Application
Physics	I-Application
and	I-Application
Industrial	I-Application
Control	I-Application
System	I-Application
(	O
EPICS	B-Application
)	O
is	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
software	O
tools	O
and	O
applications	O
used	O
to	O
develop	O
and	O
implement	O
distributed	O
control	O
systems	O
to	O
operate	O
devices	O
such	O
as	O
particle	O
accelerators	O
,	O
telescopes	O
and	O
other	O
large	O
scientific	O
facilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tools	O
are	O
designed	O
to	O
help	O
develop	O
systems	O
which	O
often	O
feature	O
large	O
numbers	O
of	O
networked	B-Architecture
computers	I-Architecture
delivering	O
control	O
and	O
feedback	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EPICS	B-Application
was	O
initially	O
developed	O
as	O
the	O
Ground	O
Test	O
Accelerator	O
Controls	O
System	O
(	O
GTACS	O
)	O
at	O
Los	O
Alamos	O
National	O
Laboratory	O
(	O
LANL	O
)	O
in	O
1988	O
by	O
Bob	O
Dalesio	O
,	O
Jeff	O
Hill	O
,	O
et	O
al	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
resulting	O
software	O
was	O
renamed	O
EPICS	B-Application
and	O
was	O
presented	O
at	O
the	O
International	O
Conference	O
on	O
Accelerator	O
and	O
Large	O
Experimental	O
Physics	O
Control	O
Systems	O
(	O
ICALEPCS	O
)	O
in	O
1991	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EPICS	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
available	O
under	O
a	O
commercial	O
license	O
,	O
with	O
enhanced	O
versions	O
sold	O
by	O
Tate	O
&	O
Kinetic	O
Systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
EPICS	B-Application
community	O
was	O
established	O
and	O
development	O
grew	O
as	O
more	O
facilities	O
joined	O
in	O
with	O
the	O
collaboration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2004	O
,	O
EPICS	B-Application
became	O
freely	O
distributable	O
after	O
its	O
release	O
under	O
the	O
EPICS	B-Application
Open	O
License	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
EPICS	B-Application
uses	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
and	O
publish	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
subscribe	I-Operating_System
techniques	O
to	O
communicate	O
between	O
computers.Servers	O
,	O
the	O
“	O
input/output	B-General_Concept
controllers	O
”	O
(	O
IOCs	O
)	O
,	O
collect	O
experiment	O
and	O
control	O
data	O
in	O
real	O
time	O
,	O
using	O
the	O
measurement	O
instruments	O
attached	O
to	O
them.This	O
information	O
is	O
then	O
provided	O
to	O
clients	O
,	O
using	O
the	O
high-bandwidth	O
Channel	O
Access	O
(	O
CA	O
)	O
or	O
the	O
recently	O
added	O
pvAccess	O
networking	O
protocols	O
that	O
are	O
designed	O
to	O
suit	O
real-time	B-General_Concept
applications	I-General_Concept
such	O
as	O
scientific	O
experiments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IOCs	O
hold	O
and	O
interact	O
with	O
a	O
database	O
of	O
"	O
records	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
represent	O
either	O
devices	O
or	O
aspects	O
of	O
the	O
devices	O
to	O
be	O
controlled.IOCs	O
can	O
be	O
hosted	O
by	O
stock-standard	O
servers	O
or	O
PCs	O
or	O
by	O
VME	B-Architecture
,	O
MicroTCA	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
standard	O
embedded	B-Architecture
system	I-Architecture
processors.For	O
"	O
hard	O
real-time	B-General_Concept
"	O
applications	O
the	O
RTEMS	B-Operating_System
or	O
VxWorks	B-Operating_System
operating	O
systems	O
are	O
normally	O
used	O
,	O
whereas	O
"	O
soft	O
real-time	B-General_Concept
"	O
applications	O
typically	O
run	O
on	O
Linux	B-Application
or	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
record	O
types	O
are	O
available	O
for	O
various	O
types	O
of	O
input	B-General_Concept
and	I-General_Concept
output	I-General_Concept
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
analog	O
or	O
binary	O
)	O
and	O
to	O
provide	O
functional	O
behaviour	O
such	O
as	O
calculations.It	O
is	O
also	O
possible	O
to	O
create	O
custom	O
record	O
types	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
packages	O
are	O
available	O
,	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
view	O
and	O
interact	O
with	O
PV	O
data	O
through	O
typical	O
display	O
widgets	O
such	O
as	O
dials	O
and	O
text	O
boxes.Examples	O
include	O
EDM	O
(	O
Extensible	O
Display	O
Manager	O
)	O
,	O
MEDM	O
(	O
Motif/EDM	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
software	O
that	O
implements	O
the	O
CA/pvAccess	O
protocol	O
can	O
read	O
and	O
write	O
PV	O
values.Extension	O
packages	O
are	O
available	O
to	O
provide	O
support	O
for	O
MATLAB	B-Language
,	O
LabVIEW	B-Application
,	O
Perl	B-Language
,	O
Python	B-Language
,	O
Tcl	B-Operating_System
,	O
ActiveX	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
write	O
scripts	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
EPICS-controlled	O
equipment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
List	O
of	O
Institutions	O
using	O
EPICS	B-Application
,	O
by	O
RegionRegionInstituteCountryAfricaiThemba	O
LABSiThemba	O
LABS	O
-	O
South	O
AfricaSouth	O
AfricaAsiaKSTAR	O
–	O
Korea	O
Superconducting	O
Tokamak	O
Advanced	O
ResearchRepublic	O
of	O
KoreaJ-PARC	O
–	O
Joint	O
Facility	O
for	O
High	O
Intensity	O
Proton	O
AcceleratorsJapanRIBF	O
–	O
RIKEN	O
RI	O
Beam	O
Factory	O
ProjectKAGRA	O
–	O
Kamioka	O
Gravitational	O
Wave	O
DetectorSuperKEKB	O
at	O
KEK	O
in	O
TskubaBSRF	O
-	O
Beijing	O
Synchrotron	O
Radiation	O
LaboratoryBeijing	O
Synchrotron	O
Radiation	O
Laboratory	O
(	O
BSRF	O
)	O
ChinaVECC	O
–	O
Variable	O
Energy	O
Cyclotron	O
CentreIndiaTIFR	O
-	O
Tata	O
Institute	O
of	O
Fundamental	O
ResearchEuropeBerliner	O
Elektronenspeicherring	O
für	O
Synchrotronstrahlung	O
(	O
BESSY	O
II	O
)	O
–	O
Helmholtz-Zentrum	O
BerlinGermanyDeutsches	O
Elektronen	O
Synchrotron	O
(	O
DESY	O
)	O
FHI	O
free-electron	O
laser	O
(	O
FEL	O
)	O
-	O
Fritz	O
Haber	O
Institute	O
of	O
the	O
Max	O
Planck	O
SocietyGEO600	O
–	O
Gravitational-wave	O
observatory	O
,	O
Max	O
Planck	O
Institute	O
for	O
Gravitational	O
PhysicsGSI/FAIRS	O
-DALINAC	O
–	O
Technische	O
Universität	O
DarmstadtWendelstein	O
7-X	O
–	O
experimental	O
stellarator	O
,	O
Max	O
Planck	O
Institute	O
of	O
Plasma	O
PhysicsDiamond	O
Light	O
Source	O
–	O
Rutherford	O
Appleton	O
LaboratoryUnited	O
KingdomISIS	O
Neutron	O
Source	O
-	O
Rutherford	O
Appleton	O
LaboratoryInternational	O
Muon	O
Ionization	O
Cooling	O
Experiment	O
(	O
MICE	O
)	O
–	O
Rutherford	O
Appleton	O
LaboratoryEuropean	O
Spallation	O
Source	O
ERIC	O
(	O
ESS	O
)	O
SwedenInternational	O
Thermonuclear	O
Experimental	O
Reactor	O
(	O
ITER	O
)	O
FranceSpiral2	O
Système	O
de	O
Production	O
d'Ions	O
RadioActifs	O
en	O
Ligne	O
de	O
deuxième	O
générationLaboratori	O
Nazionali	O
di	O
LegnaroItalySwiss	O
Light	O
Source	O
–	O
Paul	O
Scherrer	O
InstitutSwitzerlandSwissFEL	O
–	O
Paul	O
Scherrer	O
InstitutSwitzerlandTurkish	O
Accelerator	O
and	O
Radiation	O
LAboratory	O
-	O
TARLATurkeyMiddle	O
EastSynchrotron-Light	O
for	O
Experimental	O
Science	O
and	O
Applications	O
in	O
the	O
Middle	O
East	O
(	O
SESAME	O
)	O
JordanNorth	O
AmericaAdvanced	O
Light	O
Source	O
–	O
Lawrence	O
Berkeley	O
National	O
LaboratoryUnited	O
StatesAdvanced	O
Photon	O
Source	O
–	O
Argonne	O
National	O
LaboratoryApache	O
Point	O
ObservatoryFNAL	O
–	O
Fermi	O
National	O
Accelerator	O
LaboratoryFacility	O
for	O
Rare	O
Isotope	O
Beams	O
–	O
Michigan	O
State	O
UniversityGemini	O
ObservatoryW	O
.	O
</s>
