ITER CODAC interface for the visible and infra-red wide angle viewing cameras

The amount of data generated by the infra-red and visible cameras at ITER is expected to be considerably larger than most diagnostics. ITER will have 12 infra-red cameras plus 12 visible cameras in four different equatorial port plugs. Each of the ports will have a Plant System Host (PSH) that will provide a standard image of the plant system to the ITER's Control and Data Access and Communication (CODAC) system.The two key functions of these cameras will be the scientific exploitation with the detection of interesting physics events and the operational protection of the machine, namely the first wall. Already assuming high bandwidth requirements for both audio and video, ITER will provide a separate network for this kind of communication, which will be used to transmit both the experimental and informational data provided by the cameras.This paper presents the current camera plant system design and its interaction with ITER CODAC system and networks. Starting from the camera specifications several alternatives for data collection and compression are discussed. The required inputs from CODAC and a first specification for the internal finite state machine are also presented. Finally, a possible hardware straw man design solution for the plant system hardware is proposed.