Visualization challenges in distributed heterogeneous computing environments

Large-scale computing environments are important for many aspects of modern life. They drive scientific research in biology and physics, facilitate industrial rapid prototyping, and provide information relevant to everyday life such as weather forecasts. Their computational power grows steadily to provide faster response times and to satisfy the demand for higher complexity in simulation models as well as more details and higher resolutions in visualizations. For some years now, the prevailing trend for these large systems is the utilization of additional processors, like graphics processing units. These heterogeneous systems, that employ more than one kind of processor, are becoming increasingly widespread since they provide many benefits, like higher performance or increased energy efficiency. At the same time, they are more challenging and complex to use because the various processing units differ in their architecture and programming model. This heterogeneity is often addressed by abstraction but existing approaches often entail restrictions or are not universally applicable. As these systems also grow in size and complexity, they become more prone to errors and failures. Therefore, developers and users become more interested in resilience besides traditional aspects, like performance and usability. While fault tolerance is well researched in general, it is mostly dismissed in distributed visualization or not adapted to its special requirements. Finally, analysis and tuning of these systems and their software is required to assess their status and to improve their performance. The available tools and methods to capture and evaluate the necessary information are often isolated from the context or not designed for interactive use cases. These problems are amplified in heterogeneous computing environments, since more data is available and required for the analysis. Additionally, real-time feedback is required in distributed visualization to correlate user interactions to performance characteristics and to decide on the validity and correctness of the data and its visualization. This thesis presents contributions to all of these aspects. Two approaches to abstraction are explored for general purpose computing on graphics processing units and visualization in heterogeneous computing environments. The first approach hides details of different processing units and allows using them in a unified manner. The second approach employs per-pixel linked lists as a generic framework for compositing and simplifying order-independent transparency for distributed visualization. Traditional methods for fault tolerance in high performance computing systems are discussed in the context of distributed visualization. On this basis, strategies for fault-tolerant distributed visualization are derived and organized in a taxonomy. Example implementations of these strategies, their trade-offs, and resulting implications are discussed. For analysis, local graph exploration and tuning of volume visualization are evaluated. Challenges in dense graphs like visual clutter, ambiguity, and inclusion of additional attributes are tackled in node-link diagrams using a lens metaphor as well as supplementary views. An exploratory approach for performance analysis and tuning of parallel volume visualization on a large, high-resolution display is evaluated. This thesis takes a broader look at the issues of distributed visualization on large displays and heterogeneous computing environments for the first time. While the presented approaches all solve individual challenges and are successfully employed in this context, their joint utility form a solid basis for future research in this young field. In its entirety, this thesis presents building blocks for robust distributed visualization on current and future heterogeneous visualization environments.Große Rechenumgebungen sind für viele Aspekte des modernen Lebens wichtig. Sie treiben wissenschaftliche Forschung in Biologie und Physik, ermöglichen die rasche Entwicklung von Prototypen in der Industrie und stellen wichtige Informationen für das tägliche Leben, beispielsweise Wettervorhersagen, bereit. Ihre Rechenleistung steigt stetig, um Resultate schneller zu berechnen und dem Wunsch nach komplexeren Simulationsmodellen sowie höheren Auflösungen in der Visualisierung nachzukommen. Seit einigen Jahren ist die Nutzung von zusätzlichen Prozessoren, z.B. Grafikprozessoren, der vorherrschende Trend für diese Systeme. Diese heterogenen Systeme, welche mehr als eine Art von Prozessor verwenden, finden zunehmend mehr Verbreitung, da sie viele Vorzüge, wie höhere Leistung oder erhöhte Energieeffizienz, bieten. Gleichzeitig sind diese jedoch aufwendiger und komplexer in der Nutzung, da die verschiedenen Prozessoren sich in Architektur und Programmiermodel unterscheiden. Diese Heterogenität wird oft durch Abstraktion angegangen, aber bisherige Ansätze sind häufig nicht universal anwendbar oder bringen Einschränkungen mit sich. Diese Systeme werden zusätzlich anfälliger für Fehler und Ausfälle, da ihre Größe und Komplexität zunimmt. Entwickler sind daher neben traditionellen Aspekten, wie Leistung und Bedienbarkeit, zunehmend an Widerstandfähigkeit gegenüber Fehlern und Ausfällen interessiert. Obwohl Fehlertoleranz im Allgemeinen gut untersucht ist, wird diese in der verteilten Visualisierung oft ignoriert oder nicht auf die speziellen Umstände dieses Feldes angepasst. Analyse und Optimierung dieser Systeme und ihrer Software ist notwendig, um deren Zustand einzuschätzen und ihre Leistung zu verbessern. Die verfügbaren Werkzeuge und Methoden, um die erforderlichen Informationen zu sammeln und auszuwerten, sind oft vom Kontext entkoppelt oder nicht für interaktive Szenarien ausgelegt. Diese Probleme sind in heterogenen Rechenumgebungen verstärkt, da dort mehr Daten für die Analyse verfügbar und notwendig sind. Für verteilte Visualisierung ist zusätzlich Rückmeldung in Echtzeit notwendig, um Interaktionen der Benutzer mit Leistungscharakteristika zu korrelieren und um die Gültigkeit und Korrektheit der Daten und ihrer Visualisierung zu entscheiden. Diese Dissertation präsentiert Beiträge für all diese Aspekte. Zunächst werden zwei Ansätze zur Abstraktion im Kontext von generischen Berechnungen auf Grafikprozessoren und Visualisierung in heterogenen Umgebungen untersucht. Der erste Ansatz verbirgt Details verschiedener Prozessoren und ermöglicht deren Nutzung über einheitliche Schnittstellen. Der zweite Ansatz verwendet pro-Pixel verkettete Listen (per-pixel linked lists) zur Kombination von Pixelfarben und zur Vereinfachung von ordnungsunabhängiger Transparenz in verteilter Visualisierung. Übliche Fehlertoleranz-Methoden im Hochleistungsrechnen werden im Kontext der verteilten Visualisierung diskutiert. Auf dieser Grundlage werden Strategien für fehlertolerante verteilte Visualisierung abgeleitet und in einer Taxonomie organisiert. Beispielhafte Umsetzungen dieser Strategien, ihre Kompromisse und Zugeständnisse, und die daraus resultierenden Implikationen werden diskutiert. Zur Analyse werden lokale Exploration von Graphen und die Optimierung von Volumenvisualisierung untersucht. Herausforderungen in dichten Graphen wie visuelle Überladung, Ambiguität und Einbindung zusätzlicher Attribute werden in Knoten-Kanten Diagrammen mit einer Linsenmetapher sowie ergänzenden Ansichten der Daten angegangen. Ein explorativer Ansatz zur Leistungsanalyse und Optimierung paralleler Volumenvisualisierung auf einer großen, hochaufgelösten Anzeige wird untersucht. Diese Dissertation betrachtet zum ersten Mal Fragen der verteilten Visualisierung auf großen Anzeigen und heterogenen Rechenumgebungen in einem größeren Kontext. Während jeder vorgestellte Ansatz individuelle Herausforderungen löst und erfolgreich in diesem Zusammenhang eingesetzt wurde, bilden alle gemeinsam eine solide Basis für künftige Forschung in diesem jungen Feld. In ihrer Gesamtheit präsentiert diese Dissertation Bausteine für robuste verteilte Visualisierung auf aktuellen und künftigen heterogenen Visualisierungsumgebungen

The Proceedings of 14th Australian Information Security Management Conference, 5-6 December 2016, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia

The annual Security Congress, run by the Security Research Institute at Edith Cowan University, includes the Australian Information Security and Management Conference. Now in its fourteenth year, the conference remains popular for its diverse content and mixture of technical research and discussion papers. The area of information security and management continues to be varied, as is reflected by the wide variety of subject matter covered by the papers this year. The conference has drawn interest and papers from within Australia and internationally. All submitted papers were subject to a double blind peer review process. Fifteen papers were submitted from Australia and overseas, of which ten were accepted for final presentation and publication. We wish to thank the reviewers for kindly volunteering their time and expertise in support of this event. We would also like to thank the conference committee who have organised yet another successful congress. Events such as this are impossible without the tireless efforts of such people in reviewing and editing the conference papers, and assisting with the planning, organisation and execution of the conferences. To our sponsors also a vote of thanks for both the financial and moral support provided to the conference. Finally, thank you to the administrative and technical staff, and students of the ECU Security Research Institute for their contributions to the running of the conference

Understanding Quantum Technologies 2022

Understanding Quantum Technologies 2022 is a creative-commons ebook that provides a unique 360 degrees overview of quantum technologies from science and technology to geopolitical and societal issues. It covers quantum physics history, quantum physics 101, gate-based quantum computing, quantum computing engineering (including quantum error corrections and quantum computing energetics), quantum computing hardware (all qubit types, including quantum annealing and quantum simulation paradigms, history, science, research, implementation and vendors), quantum enabling technologies (cryogenics, control electronics, photonics, components fabs, raw materials), quantum computing algorithms, software development tools and use cases, unconventional computing (potential alternatives to quantum and classical computing), quantum telecommunications and cryptography, quantum sensing, quantum technologies around the world, quantum technologies societal impact and even quantum fake sciences. The main audience are computer science engineers, developers and IT specialists as well as quantum scientists and students who want to acquire a global view of how quantum technologies work, and particularly quantum computing. This version is an extensive update to the 2021 edition published in October 2021.Comment: 1132 pages, 920 figures, Letter forma

Políticas de Copyright de Publicações Científicas em Repositórios Institucionais: O Caso do INESC TEC

A progressiva transformação das práticas científicas, impulsionada pelo desenvolvimento das novas Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC), têm possibilitado aumentar o acesso à informação, caminhando gradualmente para uma abertura do ciclo de pesquisa. Isto permitirá resolver a longo prazo uma adversidade que se tem colocado aos investigadores, que passa pela existência de barreiras que limitam as condições de acesso, sejam estas geográficas ou financeiras. Apesar da produção científica ser dominada, maioritariamente, por grandes editoras comerciais, estando sujeita às regras por estas impostas, o Movimento do Acesso Aberto cuja primeira declaração pública, a Declaração de Budapeste (BOAI), é de 2002, vem propor alterações significativas que beneficiam os autores e os leitores. Este Movimento vem a ganhar importância em Portugal desde 2003, com a constituição do primeiro repositório institucional a nível nacional. Os repositórios institucionais surgiram como uma ferramenta de divulgação da produção científica de uma instituição, com o intuito de permitir abrir aos resultados da investigação, quer antes da publicação e do próprio processo de arbitragem (preprint), quer depois (postprint), e, consequentemente, aumentar a visibilidade do trabalho desenvolvido por um investigador e a respetiva instituição. O estudo apresentado, que passou por uma análise das políticas de copyright das publicações científicas mais relevantes do INESC TEC, permitiu não só perceber que as editoras adotam cada vez mais políticas que possibilitam o auto-arquivo das publicações em repositórios institucionais, como também que existe todo um trabalho de sensibilização a percorrer, não só para os investigadores, como para a instituição e toda a sociedade. A produção de um conjunto de recomendações, que passam pela implementação de uma política institucional que incentive o auto-arquivo das publicações desenvolvidas no âmbito institucional no repositório, serve como mote para uma maior valorização da produção científica do INESC TEC.The progressive transformation of scientific practices, driven by the development of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which made it possible to increase access to information, gradually moving towards an opening of the research cycle. This opening makes it possible to resolve, in the long term, the adversity that has been placed on researchers, which involves the existence of barriers that limit access conditions, whether geographical or financial. Although large commercial publishers predominantly dominate scientific production and subject it to the rules imposed by them, the Open Access movement whose first public declaration, the Budapest Declaration (BOAI), was in 2002, proposes significant changes that benefit the authors and the readers. This Movement has gained importance in Portugal since 2003, with the constitution of the first institutional repository at the national level. Institutional repositories have emerged as a tool for disseminating the scientific production of an institution to open the results of the research, both before publication and the preprint process and postprint, increase the visibility of work done by an investigator and his or her institution. The present study, which underwent an analysis of the copyright policies of INESC TEC most relevant scientific publications, allowed not only to realize that publishers are increasingly adopting policies that make it possible to self-archive publications in institutional repositories, all the work of raising awareness, not only for researchers but also for the institution and the whole society. The production of a set of recommendations, which go through the implementation of an institutional policy that encourages the self-archiving of the publications developed in the institutional scope in the repository, serves as a motto for a greater appreciation of the scientific production of INESC TEC

Anales del XIII Congreso Argentino de Ciencias de la Computación (CACIC)

Contenido: Arquitecturas de computadoras Sistemas embebidos Arquitecturas orientadas a servicios (SOA) Redes de comunicaciones Redes heterogéneas Redes de Avanzada Redes inalámbricas Redes móviles Redes activas Administración y monitoreo de redes y servicios Calidad de Servicio (QoS, SLAs) Seguridad informática y autenticación, privacidad Infraestructura para firma digital y certificados digitales Análisis y detección de vulnerabilidades Sistemas operativos Sistemas P2P Middleware Infraestructura para grid Servicios de integración (Web Services o .Net)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Anales del XIII Congreso Argentino de Ciencias de la Computación (CACIC)

Contenido: Arquitecturas de computadoras Sistemas embebidos Arquitecturas orientadas a servicios (SOA) Redes de comunicaciones Redes heterogéneas Redes de Avanzada Redes inalámbricas Redes móviles Redes activas Administración y monitoreo de redes y servicios Calidad de Servicio (QoS, SLAs) Seguridad informática y autenticación, privacidad Infraestructura para firma digital y certificados digitales Análisis y detección de vulnerabilidades Sistemas operativos Sistemas P2P Middleware Infraestructura para grid Servicios de integración (Web Services o .Net)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI