1. A guided tour of the Access Grid
Advanced Network Collaboration
Bob Riddle, Technologist
23 February 2019

2. What if …
… you could create virtual spaces where distributed people can work together?
... you could provide a sense of presence, of “being there” where distributed people could interact as if they were sharing the same “room”?
... you could do this using available collaboration technology that was affordable?
… you could integrate this with existing security services and available network capabilities?
2/23/2019

3. What if … (part 2)
… it supported the platforms that your faculty, researchers, students were comfortable using?
Windows XP/2000
Linux variants (RedHat, Slackware, Fedora, Debian, …)
Mac OS X (in the future)
… it supported the existing environments to allow people to collaborate where they are?
Advanced Node – Tiled Display, Multiple Video Streams, Localized Audio
Room – Shared Display, Multiple Video Streams, Single Audio Stream
Desktop – Desktop Monitor, Multiple Video Streams, Single Audio Stream
Laptop – Laptop Display, Single Video Stream, Single Audio Stream
Minimal Node – Compact Display, Single Video Stream, Single Audio Stream
2/23/2019

4. Then you would have an Access Grid!
The Access Grid is:
the infrastructure and software technologies enabling linking together distributed Active(Work)Spaces to support highly distributed collaborations in science, engineering and education, integrated with and providing seamless access to the resources of both the National and international Technology Grid.
2/23/2019

5. Where did it come from?
Leadership provided by the Future Lab (FL) within the Mathematics and Computer Science (MCS) division of Argonne National Laboratory and National Computation Science Alliance (NCSA).
Nearly 200 participating sites around the world, some with multiple Access Grid rooms
Government labs
Universities
Corporate research facilities
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6. It looks something like this
Providing:
Large-format displays
Multiple audio and video streams
Shared applications (PowerPoint)
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7. … and like this Research underway at Argonne, working
with Microsoft, on handheld clients
Source: Argonne National Laboratory and University Illinois at Chicago
2/23/2019

8. AG Architecture
2/23/2019

9. User Interface – Venue Client
“normal” user interface
multiple interactive channels (modalities)
text, audio, video, graphics, animation, VR
Shared applications
Supports both secure public channels
2/23/2019

10. Venue Client (Part 2) You can use the Venue Client for:
Sharing Data
Shared Applications
Integration with existing Scheduling software
The Shared Applications include:
Distributed PowerPoint
Shared Web browser
Whiteboard
Shared Desktop Tool
Shared Visualization Tools
2/23/2019

11. “Authorization is difficult, so we make it easier” Ivan Judson
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) based security.
Each user, server, and service has an identity cert
Communications use SSL (via Globus Toolkit™)
SSL provides
Mutual Authentication (each pair of peers knows the identity of the other)
Confidentiality
2/23/2019

12. So what about the Network
You need multicast
You can setup a multicast bridge
You need to do the math!
.5 mbps for each vic video stream
30 mbps for each DVTS video stream
300 kbps for all rat audio streams
You really need multicast
2/23/2019

13. What can you do with the AG?
Accredited Web Classes Advisory Committees
Applications
Awards Ceremonies
Bring your Daughter to Work Day
Budget Talks
Conferences/Workshops
CyberSecurity Plans
Dance Recitals
Farewell Party
Lunch Seminars
Government/Political Officials
Interviews
Panel Discussions
Planning Meetings
Science and Technology Week (DOE)
Testing New Access Grid Sites
Thesis Defense
User Groups
Voice to Text Demo
Wedding
Weekly Meetings
Working Group Meetings
2/23/2019

14. Other “AG” things to look at
ConferenceXP
VRVS
Bridges between H.323 & AG rooms
Build or Buy?
inSors (
2/23/2019

15. The Access Grid Project http://www.accessgrid.org/
More information
The Access Grid Project
The Access Grid Toolkit
Health Application
2/23/2019

16. 2/23/2019