Parallelized Real-time Physics Codes for Plasma Control on DIII-D

TL;DR

This paper presents a multi-threading library enabling real-time execution of physics codes on the DIII-D plasma control system, essential for future fusion power plant operation and plasma stability analysis.

Contribution

Development of a multi-threading library that allows real-time execution of physics codes for plasma control, improving performance and applicability for fusion devices.

Findings

TORBEAM code runs in under 20 ms

STRIDE code computes in 100 ms

Library applicable to other physics-based real-time codes

Abstract

A real-time safe multi-threading library was developed on the DIII-D plasma control system to optimize the realtime TORBEAM and real-time STRIDE physics codes. These physics codes are crucial for future fusion power plant operation as they provide information about electron cyclotron wave propagation and heating as well as inform about ideal plasma stability limits. The real-time TORBEAM code executed consistently in under 20 ms while the real-time STRIDE code computes in 100 ms. The multi-threading library developed in this work can be applied to other real-time physics-based codes that will be crucial for the next generation of fusion devices.