The ALMA computing project: initial commissioning

B. E. Glendenning; G. Raffi

doi:10.1117/12.787569

14 July 2008 The ALMA computing project: initial commissioning

B. E. Glendenning, G. Raffi

Proceedings Volume 7019, Advanced Software and Control for Astronomy II; 701902 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.787569
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a large radio interferometric telescope consisting of 66 antennas with variable positions, to be located at the Chajnantor 5000mat a high site (5000m) in Chile. ALMA commissioning has now started with the arrival of several antennas in Chile and will continue for the next 4 years. The ALMA Software was from the beginning has been developed as an end-to-end system including: proposal preparation, dynamic scheduling, instrument control, data handling and formatting, data archiving and retrieval, automatic and manual data processing systems, and support for observatory operations. This presentation will expand mostly on ALMA software aspects issues on which we are concentrating in this phase: management, procedures, testing and validation. While software development was based on a common software infrastructure (ALMA Common Software - ACS) from the beginning, end-to-end testing was limited by the hardware available, and was possible for years until recently only on computer models. Although the control software was available early in prototype stand-alone form to support testing of prototypes antennas, it was only recently that dynamic interferometry was reached and software could be tested end to end with a somewhat stable hardware platform. The lessons learned so far will be explained, in particular the need for a realistic validation environment, the balance to be achieved between incremental development and the needed for stability and usability, and the way to achieve all the above with a development team distributed over three four continents. Some general lessons can be drown drawn on the potential conflicts between software and system (hardware) testing, or in other words on the danger in taking short-cuts in software testing and validation.

Citation Download Citation

B. E. Glendenning and G. Raffi "The ALMA computing project: initial commissioning", Proc. SPIE 7019, Advanced Software and Control for Astronomy II, 701902 (14 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.787569

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available