Access Grid Hardware List

Overview.

A "traditional" access grid consists of four rack mounted computers. At the Vislab ATP node, only three machines are used:

Display machine
Video machine
Audio machine

The display machine drives 4 displays, namely 3 projectors and 1 monitor. Particular VGA cards are used to achieve this. The monitor's input is actually from a KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switcher whose inputs are from each of the display, video and audio machines.

Three cameras feed into the video machine.

Three microphones feed into the audio machine via a Gentner echo cancellation unit. The audio machine also drives a pair of loudspeakers via an audio amplifier.

Typically a fourth machine running Windows 2000 would be available nearby for access grid sessions in which Power Point presentations are used. The Gentner setup software would also use this machine.

Vislab ATP.

This list shows equipment and supplier details for the access grid node at the Australian Technology Park Vislab. Other combinations are most certainly possible but this combination has been tested and demonstrated to be reliable.

Projectors: 3 x JVC G10 projectors were supplied by Hagemeyer Australia. This model is now superseded. Any projector with native 1280x1024 resolution should be adequate, however check that its vertical & horizontal frequency characteristics match the display machine's VGA cards. VGA cables to reach from the display machine to the projectors are required. To lessen the likelihood of mains earth loops, the projectors' power cables are extended to the same power outlet as the computers

Computers: Supplied by IPS Intelligent Systems Pty. Ltd.

In early systems there were different graphics capabilites for the display, video & audio machines. In new systems, we're recommending the same AGP graphics card in all the machines of a node, with additional PCI graphics cards for the display machine. All machines in a node are now based on either of two common configurations, namely:

Tyan Tiger i7505 (S2668), 533/400 FSB (includes onboard gigabit ethernet)
2x Intel Xeon 2.4GHz cpu
1GB DDR266 RAM
1x Leadtek Quadro4 380XGL dual output vga card (OR other dual output nvidia based cards)
60GB Serial ATA-150 hard drive
floppy drive, CDROM

OR

Soltek SL-85 ERV 533MHz FSB motherboard (includes on-board sound)
1x 2.26GHz P4 cpu
500MB DDR PC-2700 SDRAM (1GB would be even)
1x PNY Quadro4 550-XGL dual output vga card (OR Quadro4 750-XGL, see below)
40GB IDE hard drive
3Com 3C996-T gigabit NIC or Intel PWLA8390MT E1000
floppy drive, CDROM

Additional items for display machine only:

2x HIS Riva TNT M64 PCI vga cards
OR
2x PNY GeForce 4 MX420 PCI vga cards.

Additional items for video capture machine only:

3x Hauppauge TV-GO-FM Model 709, obtained from Harris Technology.
OR
1x IVC-200 4 channel capture card, obtained from ICP Electronics Australia.

Additional items for audio machine only:

1x Vibra PCI-128 audio card.
NB. currently assessing use of display machine mobo's built-in audio

All machines are in rack mount cases.

Historical note: in the first system built, each machine was based on a Tyan Tiger 230 motherboard with dual 1GHz PIII cpu's, 1GB ECC PC133 RAM, 40GB IBM hard drive, floppy drive, CDROM drive, network card.The display machine had two VGA cards, a Matrox G550 (AGP bus) dual output card and a Matrox G450 (PCI bus) dual output card. An alternate arrangement was a single Matrox G200 PCI vga card with 4 outputs. IPS do not supply the G450-PCI card, which was obtained from Harris Technology.The video and audio machines each had a generic GeForce2 MX-400 VGA card. Each machine had a 3Com 3C996-T gigabit ethernet card. Prior to this we used Dlink DFE-530TX 10/100Mb cards, which were fine for most applications. The audio machine contained a single Vibra PCI-128 audio card.

KVM: The keyboard, video & mouse switcher is a Comsol Serverlink SL-821-P supplied by Harris Technology. A model SL-421-P would be adequate (and cheaper) but is not rack mountable. In either case, connecting cables are required. The cables from computer to switcher are SL-CKP-02 (2 metres) and were supplied with the switcher. However the SL-EXP-10, a 10 metre console extension cable for the switcher output, was purchased separately.

Rack Case. The TA506060018A rack mount enclosure is from Ricon. It is 18U high and 600mm deep (slightly deeper would be more comfortable). A KNP11308H 8 way horizontal power outlet is used to distribute power to the equipment.

Cameras. The presenter camera is a Canon VC-C4 which was obtained from Canon Australia. It is more expensive than the other cameras because it has remote control (infra-red or serial) facilities for pan, tilt and zoom of the camera. The other two cameras are JVC TK-C420E ? from Hagemeyer which, only for affordability, have a varifocal lens rather than a true zoom lens.

Microphones. The presenter's microphone is a Sennheiser EW135 radio microphone from Technical Audio Group. The other two are Audio-Technica AT871R from Venue Music.

Gentner: The Gentner AP400 echo cancellation unit was supplied by Radio Support Services Pty Ltd. Its high price makes it tempting to do without it. Experience has shown that it is an integral part of the system, especially for interactive audio sessions with multiple participants. If the node is just for listening in to other particpants, then this item is not required.

Balancing Transformer: In addition to the three microphones, the Gentner also uses the output of the audio card as one of its inputs. A balancing transformer is used to match the unbalanced ouput of the audio card to the balanced input of the Gentner. The balancing transformer is an LA Audio DBT Mk3 from Technical Audio Group. Since the DBT Mk3 is a dual channel device, the second channel is able to be used to match the Gentner's balanced output to the audio card's unbalanced input.

XLR connector panel: All the Gentner's inputs and outputs are routed via two Jands JND1655 XLR connector panels which were supplied by Technical Audio Group. One panel was loaded with 12x 3pin male chassis mount connectors, the other with female connectors. The XLR connectors themselves were purchased from Jaycar Pty Ltd. Ensure that each connector panel has a cable support rail on the rear side.

Audio Amplifier. The QSC RMX859 audio amplifier is from Technical Audio Group who also supplied the two Martin EM15B speakers.

Variations & notes:

The brand/model of many of the above items could be changed without ill effect. As variations are tried and reported, they'll be listed here.

Cameras:

At the Physics Vislab, we have two less expensive cameras from Jaycar . The camera catalogue number is QC3309. The lens is purchased separately and we use a 6mm fixed lens (QC3316) for the presenter's camera and a 4mm (QC3315) for the wide shot camera.

Network cards:

The 3Com 3C996-T was in short supply for some time. A number of replacement gigabit NICs have been tested and appear to be satisfactory:

Accton 1408T
Intel E1000
Netgear GA622T

At the JCU Townsville node, Dlink DFE-530TX+ cards are being used successfully (but only 100BaseT).
Many motherboards now (March 2003) have built in Gigabit ethernet chips, so that external cards are no longer required. The Tyan Tiger S2668 (highly recommended) has an Intel E1000 gigabit ethernet chip built in.

Echo Cancellation:

We are experimenting with at alternative to the Genter AP400 at the Physics Vislab. The unit is a Polycom Soundstation which is connected to the computer audio card by a Polycom Video Interconnect unit. These items were purchased from Adtec Communications. Sound quality is not great!
Gentner Model XAP400 is now available.
Gentner now known as "ClearOne".

Video Output Cards:

To enable collaboration with OpenGL applications, we are currently testing a number of hardware assisted OpenGL display cards. SPECviewperf test results will be updated periodically. Note that, not all hardware OpenGL cards implement the same features e.g. GL_NV_texture_shader is implemented in GeForce4-Ti4600 but not in GeForce4-MX, similarly it is implemented in Quadro4-XGL750 but not in Quadro4-XGL500.
Many newer motherboards now (March 2003) have 8x AGP slots. The dual Xeon Tyan Tiger S2668 is one such board which we now use with a Leadtek Quadro4 380XGL vga card.

Projectors:

Projectors with native resolution of 1280x1024 are recommended, despite their higher cost.
The node at University of Queensland uses Hitachi SX-5500.
The newer (March 2003) Hitachi SX-5600 projectors are being installed for the Smart Internet Technology CRC.

Microphones:

University of Queensland are using Shure model MX393/C boundary microphones. The "C" model denotes cardioid pickup pattern, but supercardioid and omnidirectional types are also available. A nice feature of these mics is a small push button on/off swith and led to indicate whether the mic is active.

Supplier Details.