Common interferometer control systems architecture

Astronomical interferometry at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has grown rapidly in the last two years. JPL is now engaged in a number of interferometry projects and is also developing a number of internal testbeds to support those projects. While each of these projects and testbeds has its own unique properties, they do share a lot of common features, and JPL is striving, through its Interferometer Technology Program (ITP), to develop common components, software, and hardware that can be reused by multiple projects. The discipline where this commonality is probably most apparent is in the area of realtime control systems, specifically, the software and electronics that drive the instrument control loops and sequence the subsystems. To this end, within the ITP, JPL has developed the Realtime Interferometer Central Systems Testbed (RICST) as a facility where a common software and electronics core, essentially a control system for a generic interferometer, can be developed. The Realtime Control (RTC) team in the ITP program consists of about 20 full-time equivalent engineers, technicians, quality assurance personnel, architects, and managers. The remainder of this paper will describe the interferometry landscape at JPL, the RTC effort, an overview of the RICST testbed, and the generic interferometer control systems architecture that has been developed.