VISUALIZATION

Scientists from the Netherlands will attempt to establish a new world record by generating the largest real-time data stream to date for ultra-high-resolution visualization. The Dutch high-performance computing and networking center SARA Computing and Networking Services will attempt the record at iGrid 2005, the biennial international network event Sept. 26-29 in San Diego, California. "This is a unique event," said SARA Division Manager for High-Performance Networking Paul Wielinga. "Our success can only be realized by making use of the combination of the fastest virtual graphic card, the fastest network, the fastest transatlantic connection, and the largest display." The 2-D and 3-D data objects of Netherlands' scientists will be rendered live on a powerful visualization cluster in Amsterdam (the Netherlands). The rendered images are transported as a pixel stream via optical lambda networks to San Diego, using a network bandwidth of 20 Gigabits per second (Gbps). In San Diego SARA will be displaying the output on the EVL LambdaVision Display of 55 screens (11 horizontally x 5 vertically) resulting in a total resolution of 17,600 x 6,000 pixels (in total 105,600,000 pixels). The infrastructure between Amsterdam and San Diego consists of a 20 Gbps connection that has been set up in close cooperation with SURFnet, the Netherlands' National Research and Education Network (NREN). The connection between Amsterdam and Chicago is realized through NetherLight, the optical exchange for research networks, and its sister facility StarLight in Chicago. The NRENs in the USA provide the connectivity between Chicago and San Diego. This technique is part of the OptIPuter, a U.S. National Science Foundation-funded project led by the University of California, San Diego and University of Illinois at Chicago, in which SARA actively participates. OptIPuter is a very powerful distributed cyber infrastructure to support data-intensive scientific research and collaboration. Network-intensive visualization techniques on all kinds of output systems, such as high-definition stereoscopic displays, ultra-high-resolution tiled displays and personal auto-stereoscopic displays, are an important field of interest for SARA. SARA has developed a new advanced system for scalable and distributed visualization of ultra-high-resolution 2-D and 3-D data objects. Within the framework of OptIPuter, SARA has contributed to the development of the Global Lambda Visualization Facility (GLVF) and Technology for Optical Pixel Streaming (TOPS), which are both related to the worldwide visualization facility that is being developed.