Program on State Agency Remote Sensing Data Management (SARSDM)

A planning study for developing a Missouri natural resources information system (NRIS) that combines satellite-derived data and other information to assist in carrying out key state tasks was conducted. Four focal applications -- dam safety, ground water supply monitoring, municipal water supply monitoring, and Missouri River basin modeling were identified. Major contributions of the study are: (1) a systematic choice and analysis of a high priority application (water resources) for a Missouri, LANDSAT-based information system; (2) a system design and implementation plan, based on Missouri, but useful for many other states; (3) an analysis of system costs, component and personnel requirements, and scheduling; and (4) an assessment of deterrents to successful technological innovation of this type in state government, and a system management plan, based on this assessment, for overcoming these obstacles in Missouri

SIMD code generation in data-parallel programming

Today';s desktop PCs feature a variety of parallel processing units. Developing applications that exploit this parallelism is a demanding task, and a programmer has to obtain detailed knowledge about the hardware for efficient implementation. CGiS is a data-parallel programming language providing a unified abstraction for two parallel processing units: graphics processing units (GPUs) and the vector processing units of CPUs. The CGiS compiler framework fully virtualizes the differences in capability and accessibility by mapping an abstract data-parallel programming model on those targets. The applicability of CGiS for GPUs has been shown in previous work; this work focuses on applying the abstract programming model of CGiS to CPUs with SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) instruction sets. We have identified, adapted and implemented a set of program analyses to expose and access the available parallelism. The code generation phase is based on selected optimization algorithms tailored to SIMD code generation. Via code generation profiles, it is possible to adapt the code generation strategy to different target architectures. To assess the effectiveness of our approach, we have implemented backends for the two most widespread SIMD instruction sets, namely Intel';s Streaming SIMD Extensions and Freescale';s AltiVec. Additionally, we integrated a prototypical backend for the Cell Broadband Engine as an example for a multi-core architecture. Our experimental results show excellent average performance gains by a factor of 3 compared to standard scalar C++ implementations and underline the viability of this approach: real-world applications can be implemented easily with CGiS and result in efficient code.Parallelverarbeitung wird heutzutage in handelsüblichen PCs von einer Reihe verschiedener Komponenten unterstützt. Grafikprozessoren (GPUs) und Vektoreinheiten in CPUs sind zwei dieser Komponenten. Da die Entwicklung von Anwendungen, die diese Parallelität nutzen, eine anspruchsvolle Aufgabe ist, muss sich ein Programmierer detaillierte Kenntnisse der internen Hardwarestruktur aneignen. Mit CGiS stellen wir eine datenparallele Programmiersprache vor, die eine gemeinsame Abstraktion für Grafikprozessoren und Vektoreinheiten in CPUs bietet und ein einheitliches Programmiermodell für beide bereitstellt. In vorherigen Arbeiten haben wir bereits die Nutzbarkeit von CGiS für GPUs gezeigt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit bilden wir das abstrakte Programmiermodel von CGiS auf CPUs mit SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) Instruktionssatz ab. Wir haben eine Reihe relevanter Programmanalysen angepasst und implementiert um Parallelität aufzudecken und zu nutzen. Die Codegenerierungsphase basiert auf ausgewählten Optimierungsalgorithmen, die speziell auf die Generierung von SIMD-Code zugeschnitten sind. Durch Profile für verschiedene Architekturen ist es uns möglich, die Codegenierung zu steuern. Um die Effektivität unseres Ansatzes unter Beweis zu stellen, haben wir Backends für die beiden am weitesten verbreiteten SIMD-Instruktionssätze implementiert: Die "Streaming SIMD Extensions" von Intel und AltiVec von Freescale. Zusätzlich haben wir ein prototypisches Backend für den Cell Prozessor von IBM, als Beispiel für eine Multi-Core-Architektur, integriert. Die Ergebnisse unserer Experimente belegen eine ausgezeichnete durchschnittliche Beschleunigung um einen Faktor von 3 im Vergleich zu handgeschriebenen C++-Implementierungen. Diese Resultate untermauern unseren Ansatz: Mittels CGiS lässt sich leistungsstarker Code für SIMD- und Multi-Core-Applikationen generieren

CGiS : high-level data-parallel GPU programming

In the last few years, PC technology underwent a paradigm shift. The current trend leads aways from raising sequential performance to enhancing the available parallelism. The rapid performance increase of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) is a part of this trend. However, it is difficult to harness the computational potential because for the longest time GPUs could be directed only through graphics APIs and in low-level code. The language CGiS has been developed to remedy this situation. CGiS is a data-parallel programming language, which offers a high-level abstraction of GPUs, letting programmers use GPUs as co-processors for massively parallel algorithms. This work presents the language and the compiler for CGiS in the context of general purpose programming on GPUs (GPGPU).Seit einigen Jahren zeichnet sich bei handelsüblichen PCs ein Trend weg von der Erhöhung der sequentiellen Leistung hin zur Parallelverarbeitung ab. Ein Bestandteil dieses Trends ist die rasche Leistungsentwicklung der Grafikkarten (GPUs), deren Rechenleistung die aktueller CPUs mittlerweile übertrifft. Es ist jedoch schwierig, diese Leistung auch abzurufen, da diese Geräte lange Zeit nur hardwarenah und über Grafik-APIs ansteuerbar waren. Um dies zu ändern, ist CGiS entwickelt worden, eine datenparallele Programmiersprache, die die GPUs abstrahiert und ihre Benutzung als Co-Prozessoren für massiv-datenparallele Algorithmen ermöglicht. Diese Arbeit stellt die Sprache und den Compiler im Kontext dieser Entwicklung vor

NETWORK MONITORING : Using Nagios as an Example Tool

The aim of this thesis is to implement a network monitoring using an open source network management utility to check the state of network elements and associated services. Such management tools must have capability to detect and respond to faults in the network by generating appropriate alert to notify the system administrator accordingly. Nagios core was used as the network management utility for the network for demonstration of monitoring exercise. Theoretical functions of the Nagios Core were presented and a concise description of SNMP was addressed in relation to the Nagios functionalities. Nagios was configured with its plug-ins and used against a test-laboratory network run in the Linux environment. The test network comprised of two switches, one router and the Nagios server. The results from the Laboratory demonstration exercises are presented in the framework. Furthermore, the implementations of Nagios for optimal performance can be laborious, but my experiences with Nagios and its resourceful outcomes proved to be worthwhile. Nagios is therefore recommended for use in companies and institutions for monitoring their networks. Also, the laboratory part of this thesis could be used as a learning module for students to acquire skills and to identify the importance of network monitoring

THE REALISM OF ALGORITHMIC HUMAN FIGURES A Study of Selected Examples 1964 to 2001

It is more than forty years since the first wireframe images of the Boeing Man revealed a stylized hu-man pilot in a simulated pilot's cabin. Since then, it has almost become standard to include scenes in Hollywood movies which incorporate virtual human actors. A trait particularly recognizable in the games industry world-wide is the eagerness to render athletic muscular young men, and young women with hour-glass body-shapes, to traverse dangerous cyberworlds as invincible heroic figures. Tremendous efforts in algorithmic modeling, animation and rendering are spent to produce a realistic and believable appearance of these algorithmic humans. This thesis develops two main strands of research by the interpreting a selection of examples. Firstly, in the computer graphics context, over the forty years, it documents the development of the creation of the naturalistic appearance of images (usually called photorealism ). In particular, it de-scribes and reviews the impact of key algorithms in the course of the journey of the algorithmic human figures towards realism . Secondly, taking a historical perspective, this work provides an analysis of computer graphics in relation to the concept of realism. A comparison of realistic images of human figures throughout history with their algorithmically-generated counterparts allows us to see that computer graphics has both learned from previous and contemporary art movements such as photorealism but also taken out-of-context elements, symbols and properties from these art movements with a questionable naivety. Therefore, this work also offers a critique of the justification of the use of their typical conceptualization in computer graphics. Although the astounding technical achievements in the field of algorithmically-generated human figures are paralleled by an equally astounding disregard for the history of visual culture, from the beginning 1964 till the breakthrough 2001, in the period of the digital information processing machine, a new approach has emerged to meet the apparently incessant desire of humans to create artificial counterparts of themselves. Conversely, the theories of traditional realism have to be extended to include new problems that those active algorithmic human figures present

Dynamic project collaboration and control using the World Wide Web

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1996.by Stuart S. Gaudet.M.S

Shader optimization and specialization

In the field of real-time graphics for computer games, performance has a significant effect on the player’s enjoyment and immersion. Graphics processing units (GPUs) are hardware accelerators that run small parallelized shader programs to speed up computationally expensive rendering calculations. This thesis examines optimizing shader programs and explores ways in which data patterns on both the CPU and GPU can be analyzed to automatically speed up rendering in games. Initially, the effect of traditional compiler optimizations on shader source-code was explored. Techniques such as loop unrolling or arithmetic reassociation provided speed-ups on several devices, but different GPU hardware responded differently to each set of optimizations. Analyzing execution traces from numerous popular PC games revealed that much of the data passed from CPU-based API calls to GPU-based shaders is either unused, or remains constant. A system was developed to capture this constant data and fold it into the shaders’ source-code. Re-running the game’s rendering code using these specialized shader variants resulted in performance improvements in several commercial games without impacting their visual quality

Space and Earth Sciences, Computer Systems, and Scientific Data Analysis Support, Volume 1

This Final Progress Report covers the specific technical activities of Hughes STX Corporation for the last contract triannual period of 1 June through 30 Sep. 1993, in support of assigned task activities at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). It also provides a brief summary of work throughout the contract period of performance on each active task. Technical activity is presented in Volume 1, while financial and level-of-effort data is presented in Volume 2. Technical support was provided to all Division and Laboratories of Goddard's Space Sciences and Earth Sciences Directorates. Types of support include: scientific programming, systems programming, computer management, mission planning, scientific investigation, data analysis, data processing, data base creation and maintenance, instrumentation development, and management services. Mission and instruments supported include: ROSAT, Astro-D, BBXRT, XTE, AXAF, GRO, COBE, WIND, UIT, SMM, STIS, HEIDI, DE, URAP, CRRES, Voyagers, ISEE, San Marco, LAGEOS, TOPEX/Poseidon, Pioneer-Venus, Galileo, Cassini, Nimbus-7/TOMS, Meteor-3/TOMS, FIFE, BOREAS, TRMM, AVHRR, and Landsat. Accomplishments include: development of computing programs for mission science and data analysis, supercomputer applications support, computer network support, computational upgrades for data archival and analysis centers, end-to-end management for mission data flow, scientific modeling and results in the fields of space and Earth physics, planning and design of GSFC VO DAAC and VO IMS, fabrication, assembly, and testing of mission instrumentation, and design of mission operations center

English for Geodesy and Land Management Students: tutorial.

English for Geodesy and Land Management Students is the manual for the students majoring in this specialty «Geodesy and Land Management» at higher education institutions and aimed at mastering the English language for specific purposes in this domain. The manual consists of 2 parts comprising the key theoretical issues students study at their special classes. The 1st part consists of 11 units. The 2nd part consists of 14 units. Each unit is designed in the way to provide students with the possibility to practice all language skills giving them flexibility in the field of future professional sphere. In the last part of the tutorial students can find texts for supplementary reading useful for efficient independent work