VideoCube: High Performance Cluster-Based Parallel Graphics

Abram Santilli

This presentation outlines Abe's first year, first semester 
research progress and direction. The research project is 
based on the continuation of 2001 Honours work in high performance 
cluster-based parallel graphics (HP-CPG) technologies. 
The research direction is in the realisation of a cluster-based 
parallel graphics system, the VideoCube. The VideoCube is a 
low-cost scalable HP-CPG that aggregates the graphics output 
of multiple commodity off-the-shelf graphics processing units (GPUs) 
for super-realistic graphics generation. The VideoCube will be 
constructed as a hybrid software & hardware based prototype and then 
as a complete hardware implementation. The VideoCube has features 
which address limitations and issues faced by current high-performance 
cluster-based graphics systems. It should allow more efficient 
aggregation of the rendering output of multiple GPUs whilst at the same 
time providing a flexible and low-cost architecture to suit different 
rendering applications. The thesis question revolves around the finer details 
of the VideoCube's construction and main research problems in cluster-based 
parallel graphics using the VideoCube as a research platform. 
It is envisaged that a number of papers will be written that are based 
on technologies, algorithms and/or quantitative research 
in the domain of parallel graphics.