Maintaining and improving the control and safety systems for the Electromagnetic Calorimeter of the CMS experiment

Abstract

This paper presents the current architecture of the control and safety systems designed and implemented for the Electromagnetic Calorimeter (ECAL) of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). An evaluation of system performance during all CMS physics data taking periods is reported, with emphasis on how software and hardware solutions are used to overcome limitations, whilst maintaining and improving reliability and robustness. The outcomes of the CMS ECAL Detector Control System (DCS) Software Analysis Project were a fundamental step towards the integration of all control system applications and the consequent piece-by-piece software improvements allowed a smooth transition to the latest revision of the system. The ongoing task of keeping the system in-line with new hardware technologies and software platforms specified by the CMS DCS Group is discussed. The structure of the comprehensive support service with detailed incident logging is presented in addition to a complete test setup for reproducing failures and for testing solutions prior to deployment into production. A correlation between the acquired experience, the development of new software tools and a reduction in the DCS support load is highlighted.