System Software

The user interface to the data acquisition system is via UNIX workstations while all VME cpus run the VxWorks real-time kernel.

VxWorks

The VxWorks kernel was choosen for the real time components because

• it is designed specifically for real-time control and data acquisition functions within a multi-tasking environment;

• it gives very fast handling of interrupts, task scheduling, etc.;

• it is UNIX source compatible. All software generation and compilation is performed using UNIX workstations;

• it has full support for BSD networking allowing complete integration into a UNIX workstation environment;

• source level debugging is available from UNIX workstations using DBX.