The Polder Computing Environment: a system for interactive distributed simulation

• Published in: Concurrency and computation Vol. 14; no. 13-15; pp. 1313 - 1335
• Main Authors: Iskra, K. A., Belleman, R. G., van Albada, G. D., Santoso, J., Sloot, P. M. A., Bal, H. E., Spoelder, H. J. W., Bubak, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.11.2002
• Subjects: dynamic load balancing; grid computing; immersive environment; interactive distributed simulation; problem solving environments; resource management
• ISSN: 1532-0626; 1532-0634
• DOI: 10.1002/cpe.692

The paper provides an overview of an experimental, Grid‐like computing environment, Polder, and its components. Polder offers high‐performance computing and interactive simulation facilities to computational science. It was successfully implemented on a wide‐area cluster system, the Distributed ASCI Supercomputer. An important issue is an efficient management of resources, in particular multi‐level scheduling and migration of tasks that use PVM or sockets. The system can be applied to interactive simulation, where a cluster is used for high‐performance computations, while a dedicated immersive interactive environment (CAVE) offers visualization and user interaction. Design considerations for the construction of dynamic exploration environments using such a system are discussed, in particular the use of intelligent agents for coordination. A case study of simulatedabdominal vascular reconstruction is subsequently presented: the results of computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging of a patient are displayed in CAVE, and a surgeon can evaluate the possible treatments by performing the surgeries virtually and analysing the resulting blood flow which is simulated using the lattice‐Boltzmann method. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.