Real-time motional Stark effect in jet

Real-time signal processing system based on FPGA for motional Stark effect diagnostic on EAST

The plasma current density profile plays a key role in the development of a high poloidal beta scenario, which is essential for long-pulse and high-performance plasma operation on a tokamak. Based on the polarimetry technique, a Motional Stark Effect (MSE) diagnostic has been built on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak. To be prepared for real-time (RT) feedback control of the plasma current density profile in the future, a RT signal processing system has been developed. The RT signal processing system is composed of three functional modules: analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) module, polarization information extraction module, and digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) module. The final objective of this system is to acquire the polarization information of the MSE. Based on the field-programmable gate array unit, fast Fourier transformation is adopted to process the Photoelastic Modulator (PEM) digital signal, which was converted from a PEM signal via the ADC module. By means of frequency spectrum separation, the components around double modulating frequencies are restored through inverse fast Fourier transformation. Furthermore, the two amplitudes of their corresponding components can be obtained through a digital harmonic analyzer technique. Afterward, the ratio of the two amplitudes is calculated by arc tangent so that the polarization angle is obtained. Finally, the information of this polarization angle is converted into a voltage signal by the DAC module and then output in RT. The test results based on the RT signal processing system are in good agreement with those based on the phase lock-in amplifiers. The working cycle of this system is shorter than 10 ms, which meets the requirements of the MSE diagnostic as a RT controller. The algorithm of RT signal processing and the relevant technology applied for building this system are presented in the main body of this paper in detail.

Real-time data processing and magnetic field pitch angle estimation of the JET motional Stark effect diagnostic based on Kalman filtering

A novel technique for the real-time measurement of the magnetic field pitch angle in JET discharges using the motional Stark effect diagnostic is presented. Kalman filtering techniques are adopted to estimate the amplitude of the avalanche photodiode signals' harmonics that are relevant for the pitch angle calculation. The proposed technique {for extended technical details of the generic algorithm see [R. Coelho and D. Alves, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 37, 164 (2009)]} is shown to be much more robust and provides less noisy estimates than an equivalent lock-in amplifier scheme, in particular when dealing with edge localized modes.