About the ANISE Project

Unrealized Potential

Synchrotrons are large electron storage rings that produce x-ray beams of unprecedented brightness. These beams can be used to provide critical information on a range of materials whose integrity underlies much of our industrial technology. Synchrotrons have the capacity to produce bundles of individual scientific results within a fraction of a second, yet today most data is not fully assessed for days or weeks following an experiment. What is required is a process that would rapidly and completely analyze the output from an experiment for experts involved and to feed back intelligent choices for subsequent experimental steps based on inputs from the experts and data bases, as well as from patterns learned from previous experiments. Each individual experimental analysis/feedback sequence might thus be as brief as a few seconds.

Towards the Ideal

We propose that such a capacity could be established on a high speed network platform called ANISE, accessible by users worldwide and capable of processing the results from more than one synchrotron using stream computing. On completion, ANISE would be capable of providing near-real time analysis of data from selected synchrotrons based in Canada and the US. Initially, experiments involving x-ray diffraction, tomography and fluorescence1 would be targeted: all are capable of producing useful experimental bundles of data in sub-second segments with expected data rates as high as 500 megabytes per second. All of these techniques are of great immediate or potential interest to thousands of academic and industrial researchers worldwide in earth, materials, health and environmental sciences.

ANISE would be a distributed network whose main processing and storage nodes would be located at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) using SHARCNET. The CANARIE light path would stream data from the Canadian Light Source (CLS) in Saskatoon, from the Advanced Light Source (APS) in Chicago and later, the National Synchrotron Light Source-2 in Upton NY, all of which are located at CANARIE access switches. The controlling software for stream computing would be IBM’s System S, a product now under beta testing by IBM Research at its Watson laboratories. This software and its underlying support would be donated by IBM Canada and IBM Research.

Building on Success

The network requirements, software and testing would be developed by a team of computer and materials scientists at UWO working in conjunction with computer engineers in the Controls Group at CLS. Both groups are already seasoned collaborators through their joint work on the Science Studio (NEP-1) project. The ANISE architecture would be developed by colleagues at IBM Canada, in close collaboration with the scientists at IBM Research. The application of ANISE at APS would be developed in parallel by scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) who have been longstanding collaborators with the UWO group.

Development of this high speed framework for processing massive amounts of data from synchrotrons in Canada and the US supports the goals of CANARIE through the creation of new SOA tools enhancing the integrated use of CANARIE network resources, particularly its international connections. In addition, the particular objectives of NEP-2 will be met: the ANISE network will be international in scope with the participation of one major US synchrotron facility and the likely involvement of a second. Further, the network would enhance the capabilities of the Science Studio platform by expanding its connections to more synchrotron experiments and by expanding its processing capabilities. Science Studio is already beginning to attract interest by US synchrotron users since it is the considered to be at a more advanced state than other web service control and access environments to synchrotrons. Finally, the framework will encourage the development of common processing protocols and data formats for use in synchrotrons and in other large scale facilities.

Positive Impact

Overall, this project would open synchrotrons to become much more interactive with the outside world. The present paradigm where data gathering and analysis are largely isolated functions will be changed to one where most data is analyzed as it is gathered. The results will then be of greater use to the experimenter and to others who have a stake in the experiment. This will increase interest and investment in synchrotrons by a broader range of groups and sectors in our society.