This project, supporting research in online simulation for critical problems in many areas, aims at acquiring a high-performance computing system. Online simulation represents a new paradigm in the use of high-performance computing, comprising a tight and continuous interaction between data and simulation. The data may stream from instruments or repositories, or may stem from user interaction with, and steering of, an on-going computation. Often, the simulations must execute in real-time, that is, in time scales that enable simulation-based decision making. Online simulation demands a high-availability, high-throughput computational facility,
-Dedicated to simulations with real-time and interactive needs; -Networked at gigabits speeds with advanced visualization facilities on the user end, and instruments and repositories on the data end; and -Sufficiently powerful to enable fast turn-around in support of high-fidelity simulation-based decision-making.
Local servers typically support online simulation, as national supercomputer facilities are not configured to support the first two. The facility will be housed in ICES (Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences), already established in modeling, large-scale simulation, and visualization of complex systems, and with an existing collaboration with the University of Texas-El Paso, a minority-serving university. Multiple real-time simulation efforts are planned, including
-Storm surge modeling; -Online visualization of simulations of neuromuscular junctions (only real in the sense visualization is on line); -Instrumented oil fields; Image-driven surgery; -Simulation of multi-scale manufacturing processes (only real in that it needs to deal with multi-scale issues); -Genomic modeling; Real-time evacuation; and Cardiovascular simulation.
