Access Grid (AG) Demonstrations

 

Introduction and Overview

In the early 1980s corporate executives didn't think of the internet as an essential business tool. In just 10 years the World Wide Web turned the internet into such a communication tool and one of the main ways to conduct business. Just as the Web changed the way we interact in the 1990s, the Access Grid will be a vital part of the next generation of communications technologies. Here is a chance for your organisation to view this technology in action and see why it is being used worldwide by science, engineering and education users.

Following the very successful Access Grid trials and demonstrations held in Wellington and Auckland late last year, NGI-NZ and CityLink are again working together to provide full working demonstrations of Access Grids in action. The New Zealand Access Grid Cookbook, at http://www.citylink.co.nz/cgi-bin/accessgrid/ distills the experience from the earlier trials.

The new demonstrations will follow Access Grid technical workshops coordinated by NGI-NZ as part of capability development for the advanced network, and will be held in May and June (see schedule below).

These demonstrations take place at up to three sites, for a period of up to a week. In the weeks between the demonstrations, the equipment is to be packed up and shipped to the next site for demonstration. The recipient site should have a couple of days to unpack, configure and test the Access Grid ready for the demonstration the following week.

To get the maximum benefit it is useful to set up a schedule of planned events that can demonstrate how the Access Grid can be best utilised in a research environment. The NGI-NZ team will be happy to discuss this further with you.

Institutions/organisations wishing to participate in the Demonstrations must first meet the following prerequisites:

1. Participation in an Access Grid Workshop*
2. Confirmed suitable premises (see Appendix 1)
3. Confirmed network connectivity (see Appendix 2)

The following schedule allows for four Access Grid demonstrations in total, in the second and fourth weeks of May and June. Registrations of interest from organisations that meet the premises and connectivity requirements are invited.

Schedule and Dates

What We Provide

1. Up to three portable Access Grids - each node includes:
   • A PC with appropriate control and conferencing software
   • Four cameras
   • Three microphones, echo cancellation equipment and speakers
   • Three data projectors
   • An Access Grid tunnel terminator
2. Network and routing consultation and support (If temporary enhancement of Internet bandwidth is required and possible, some support for this can be provided)
3. Telephone and on-line support

Participant registration

Organisations/institutions that meet the connectivity and premises prerequisites should register their interest for holding an Access Grid demonstration. Please fill out the Access Grid Demonstrations Registration form (41Kb MS Word) and email to:

Debra Sturm
NGI-NZ
Email: debra@ngi-nz.co.nz
Ph: 0-4-494 1306

Appendix 1: Access Grid Demo Room

Size

In order to make the best use of the images of three projectors, a flat, uninterrupted wall of at least 8.25m is recommended with a blank strip at least 2m high for the images to appear on.

Lighting

There is a need to have consistent lighting on partcipants faces, there are frequently issues with fluorescent downlights causing dark faces. Extra lighting reflected off the ceiling can provide fill lighting for faces. Fill lighting should not be "in the face" of participants as well as avoiding washing out the projector images on the screen wall.

Ventilation

Heat from projectors, lights and PCs is a major issue. Consider that the room has this equipment plus the heat from participants and the equipment they bring into the room. Smaller rooms often are harder to control as they were not designed for the equipment and numbers of bodies.

Fans brought into the room to help control the heat, may cause issues with the microphones.

Seating

A row of tables will suit participants with laptops or notebooks to use during the meetings and presentations.

Appendix 2: Access Grid Demo Network

For the Access Grid demonstrations commodity internet access can be used. Additional internet bandwidth will most likely be required to support the trial. The following is required:

1. Bandwidth required is 3Mbit/s down stream (toward the organisation) and 1Mbit/s upstream (from the organisation). (Note: Assuming a 3 node AG conference is established during the trial, which is our aim) Jetstream is not suitable for this application.
2. Access Grids communicate with multicast traffic - this is not supported by commodity internet access. A router will be provided for the demonstration which needs to be located on the organisations local area network which will encapsulate the multicast traffic in a layer-2 tunnel to transport it over the internet connectivity. Some consultation will be require with CityLink is ensure the appropriate network setting are established.
3. At the edge of the organisations local area network (connection to the internet) it is desirable to prioritise the access grid traffic over normal internet traffic. Some consultation will be required with CityLink to ensure the optimum configuration.