Alcasim simulation code for Alcator C-Mod

A Matlab-Simulink simulation code Alcasim has been developed for Alcator C-Mod. The simulator includes models of the tokamak and plasma, the magnetic diagnostics and the power supplies. Alcasim runs the real-time control code of Alcator C-Mod and has been integrated with the standard software available to design the target waveforms and control algorithms. Extensive testing of the simulator has shown good agreement with experimental data. The short simulation time, which is around 3 minutes on a standard PC, makes Alcasim a close to real-time tool available to the physics operator to test the control programming in between C-Mod discharges. The Matlab-Simulink-IDL environment of Alcasim is also suitable to test new algorithms and architectures off-line and to develop advanced model-based control strategies.