Quality Control, Testing and Deployment Results in NIF ICCS

TL;DR

The paper details the development, testing, and deployment process of the NIF ICCS, highlighting incremental releases, extensive testing, and process improvements to ensure reliable laser control system operation.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive approach to incremental development, rigorous testing, and process control for deploying a complex laser control system at NIF.

Findings

Successful integration of control subsystems in prototype labs

Automated testing of laser pulse amplification up to 20 joules

Use of process metrics to ensure project confidence

Abstract

The strategy used to develop the NIF Integrated Computer Control System (ICCS) calls for incremental cycles of construction and formal test to deliver a total of 1 million lines of code. Each incremental release takes four to six months to implement specific functionality and culminates when offline tests conducted in the ICCS Integration and Test Facility verify functional, performance, and interface requirements. Tests are then repeated on line to confirm integrated operation in dedicated laser laboratories or ultimately in the NIF. Test incidents along with other change requests are recorded and tracked to closure by the software change control board (SCCB). Annual independent audits advise management on software process improvements. Extensive experience has been gained by integrating controls in the prototype laser preamplifier laboratory. The control system installed in the preamplifier lab contains five of the ten planned supervisory subsystems and seven of sixteen planned front-end processors (FEPs). Beam alignment, timing, diagnosis and laser pulse amplification up to 20 joules was tested through an automated series of shots. Other laboratories have provided integrated testing of six additional FEPs. Process measurements including earned-value, product size, and defect densities provide software project controls and generate confidence that the control system will be successfully deployed.