Distributed Visualization (D6)
Project PI: Chandrajit Bajaj
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Today, advanced visual computing is associated with high-end graphics workstations from vendors such as SGI or HP. Whether in graphics, scientific visualization, or in solid modeling and CAE, such workstations are considered necessary to deliver the needed performance. National initiatives such as the NSF Science and Technology Center for Computer Graphics and Scientific Visualization have been predicated on that assumption. This project will provide a software platform on the PC that is compatible with that available on high-end graphics platforms such as those available from SGI today, and at the same time provides 3-D graphics performance comparable to that available from low end workstation products available from those vendors.
TECHNICAL CHALLENGES
The project will develop a high performance version of Mesa, a portable OpenGL compatible 3-D graphics library as well as an OpenInventor compatible object-oriented 3-D modeling library that together will provide such a graphics workstation compatible platform. An ongoing program of performance evaluation and tuning of this software to provide the best possible performance with a variety of graphics cards will be a major focus. Additionally, the project will track the evolution of software standards for scientific and engineering applications dependent on graphics workstations today.
IMPACT
There is an entrenched perception that PC-based visual computing falls short of serious large-scale applications, in the research community and therefore in the minds of the students we train. This perception can and should be changed with the availability of a new generation of PCs, especially in view of high performance network clusters of dual processor machines and with high end graphics boards. The research group is preparing to release early this summer the first in a series of direct Mesa drivers for accelerated 3-D graphics cards for Intel platforms. This will allow Mesa to take advantage of the enhanced graphics capabilities of the new generation graphics cards now proliferating to make Intel architecture a much more attractive platform for applications that traditionally require an SGI machine.
EQUIPMENT
Development work will use networked clusters of Intel Pentium Pro machines with a mix of Desktop Pro and dual processor workstations with high end graphics. These machines will be shared with TICAM projects.
RESOURCES
The Computer Sciences department, in conjunction with TICAM, is currently in the process of hiring three additional faculty members in the areas of computer graphics, geometric modeling, computational geometry, and scientific visualization. These researchers will establish laboratories which will provide an environment for collaborative work by a substantial research group in the area and will be used to host a number of software packages developed by these researchers.
BENEFITS TO INTEL
Development work on this project will provide demonstrable evidence of the attractiveness of Intel platforms running NT for applications that have traditionally required SGI machines and UNIX.