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Collaboratory

Graphics and Image Laboratory

Hardware Systems Teaching Laboratory

Microelectronic Systems Laboratory

Multimedia Networking Laboratory

Collaboratory

The Collaboratory supports research and teaching in computer-supported cooperative work, distributed and real-time systems, hypermedia, and web-based distributed systems. Research conducted in this laboratory is motivated by the driving problem of creating computer and communication systems to aid collaboration in teams of technical professionals working in physically separate locations. Projects include exploring the use of the World Wide Web, Java, and virtual environments to support collaboration; flexible coupling of related, but distinct, collaboration tools; and applying natural adaptation techniques to improve real-time multimedia communication. Specialized equipment includes facilities for research in multimedia--including both analog and digital video and audio systems--and in virtual environments.

Graphics and Image Laboratory

The Graphics and Image Laboratory supports research and teaching in the broad areas of computer graphics and image analysis, including virtual and augmented environments, medical image processing, computer vision, scientific visualization, geometric modeling, graphics hardware, and pattern recognition. The laboratory is equipped with both commercial and custom devices for image analysis, image capture, high-performance image generation, spatially-immersive and head-worn image display, wide-area tracking, interaction, force feedback, and telecollaboration. Both lab equipment and space is shared between graphics and image analysis research. Noteworthy research instruments are a Reality Monster, a 32 processor SGI Onyx2(TM) Infinite Reality2(TM) workstation, which has 16 gigabytes of main memory and 8 InfiniteReality2 graphics subsystems, and the HiBall system, a UNC-built wide-area tracker that provides sub-millimeter-accuracy tracking over an area larger than 500 square feet. Our first-rate facilities enable us to pursue a wide range of research topics, and our tradition of collaborating with users wanting to use computers to solve real-world problems in their own disciplines ensures a steady stream of interesting computer science problems.

Hardware Systems Teaching Laboratory

The Hardware Systems Teaching Laboratory is an integral part of the department's curriculum in information processing hardware systems. The lab offers specialized utilities, including grounding, static control, compressed air, vacuum, and isolated power, and is equipped with the necessary instruments and tools for hands-on experimentation with components, circuits, transducers, and integration of entire systems. The lab has both workbench and conferencing space and accommodates both individual and team experiments, as well as systems design projects. Researchers continue to equip the lab with the latest analytical and fabrication technologies so that students have the best access to current technology.

Microelectronic Systems Laboratory

The Microelectronic Systems Laboratory (MSL) provides facilities and expertise for building prototypes in a variety of information processing applications. Particular emphasis is to enable building systems also requiring technologies beyond conventional electronic digital processing, for example the 3D force microscope. Custom designed and off the shelf components are used to build systems from small-scale proof-of-concept prototypes through systems of significant size and complexity, such as the Pixel-Planes family of graphics supercomputers and the HiBall tracker for virtual environments. Augmenting graduate RAs, a permanent technical staff provides continuity of know-how and economically leverages new research thrusts. Sophisticated facilities and equipment are maintained to support work in electronic, optical, mechanical, and other relevant technologies. The MSL is an exceptional academic prototyping laboratory with an established, world-class track record.

Multimedia Networking Laboratory

Researchers in the Multimedia Networking Laboratory study operating system and network support for performance-sensitive applications, such as streaming media systems, distributed virtual environments, and collaborative systems. Research focuses on media adaptations for end-system response to congestion, architectures for coordinated aggregate congestion control in cluster-to-cluster applications, router mechanisms for realizing better-than-best-effort forwarding services, performance studies of active router queue mechanisms, and Internet traffic modeling, characterization, and generation. The laboratory houses a large number of configurable workstation clusters running a wide range of production and experimental operating systems, interconnected by a variety of high-speed switching and routing devices. The machines are interconnected via dynamically configurable and partitionable networks running at 10, 100, and 1,000 Mbps. The laboratory is also directly connected to the North Carolina Networking Initiative's GigaPOP, a Cisco DPT fiber ring spanning the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina, operating at speeds of up to OC-48 (2.4 Gbps), and interconnecting the Triangle with the Abilene Internet2 network.