parimod © The par ___allel computer graphics and i_nteractive solid mod ____eling system

Abstract. The parimod system is a Transputer based graphics system with an additional interactive solid modeling tool for fast rendering of arbitrary 3-dimensional scenes. It consists of an input tool, a calculation and an output unit which are independent of each other so that each of them is replaceable if changes in hard or software come through. The input unit is a X based solid modeling tool allowing the user to define scenes like an architect on his drawing board. With the massively parallel rendering tool, the user sees the defined scenes in various qualities on-line on the true color output device. The fast output is achieved by the implementation of different parallel strategies of well-known shading and rendering algorithms. The quick response time between changing and showing the different views of a scene makes parimod very popular in the application fields of architectural drawings or the visualization of molecules. 1

Vector graphics for web lectures: Comparing adobe flash 9 and SVG

Vector graphics are an ideal content format for slide based lecture recordings. File sizes can be kept small and graphics can be displayed in superior quality. Information about text and slide objects is stored symbolically which allows texts to be searched and objects on slides to be used interactively e.g. for navigation purposes. The use of vector graphics for web lectures is, however, not very common. A major reason for this is that multiple media formats have to be combined in order to replay video and slides. This paper presents experiences made during the development and every day use of two versions of the lecture recording system virtPresenter. The first of these versions is based on SVG while the second one is based on Adobe Flex2 (Flash 9) technology

Enabling user to user interactions in web lectures with history-aware user awareness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a user interface for web lectures for engaging with other users while working with video based learning content. The application allows its users to ask questions about the content and to get answers from those users that currently online are more familiar with it. The filtering is based on the evaluation of past user interaction data in time‐based media. Design/methodology/approach – The work is implemented as a prototype application in the context of the Opencast Matterhorn project – an open source based project for producing, managing and distributing academic video content. The application compares users viewing behavior and allows communication with others that are good candidates to answer questions. Findings – Different filtering approaches for identifying suitable candidates are being discussed that foster past interactions in time‐based media. Practical implications – The paper shows that web lectures can benefit from user awareness ideas and presents examples of how learners can benefit from the knowledge of other users who are working with the same video based content. Originality/value – User awareness has become an important feature in today's Web 2.0 experience. The paper discusses different user awareness models and explains how they can be adapted to time‐based video content. The presented work is available as a plug‐in for the Opencast Matterhorn project

An Improved Algorithm to Detect Communication Deadlocks in Distributed Systems

This paper presents a new algorithm for the detection and resolution of communication deadlocks in distributed systems. The algorithm is based on some well known concepts for distributed deadlock detection and adds some new features to reduce message- and space complexity. It was implemented on a transputer network and shown to be more efficient than previously published algorithms

HYBRID. Teilprojekt: VLSI-Design mit parallelen genetischen Algorithmen Abschlussbericht

A parallel genetic algorithm has been developed for a problem from the VLSI design cycle: the generation of macro cells. The computation of the global routing is completely integrated into the optimization of the module placement. Main feature of our approach is the genotype encoding through a binary slicing tree with intelligent, problem specific operators. These hybrid operators consist of some heuristics for goal oriented construction of high quality individuals during the optimization process. To organize crossover a so called gene pool recombination operator has been introduced. The parallel version uses a mechanism to automatically adapt strategy parameters. Results for several benchmark circuits were presented. Compared with other approaches our genetic algorithm scales very well. The solution quality, reached with a straight forward implementation, is good. Following the lines described in the final report a powerful commercial design tool could be developed. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F97B584+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie, Bonn (Germany)DEGerman