| Summary: | <p>This thesis will describe the latest work from the Feedback On Nanosecond Timescales project, commonly known as FONT. The goal of the FONT project is the development of a beamline feedback system to be installed at the interaction point (IP) of a future linear collider in order to maximize the luminosity that can be achieved. The prototype FONT feedback system is beam-based, meaning that the correction is determined from direct measurement of the position of the beam, and intra-train, meaning that the correction is applied within the duration of the current bunch train.</p> <p>The FONT system, consisting of three stripline beam position monitors, a digital processor unit built around a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and a pair of electromagnetic kickers, is described. Recent improvements to the position measurement process are detailed and the performance of the feedback system is presented.</p> <p>The modification of the firmware to operate on a machine with a large number of bunch trains, such as the International Linear Collider, is described and the design is verified through the use of a laboratory test bench developed to simulate such a machine. The FONT5 digital board is proved capable of operating on a train resembling the specification for the International Linear Collider: 2820 bunches separated in time by 308 ns.</p>
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