Access Grid Toolkit v1.1
Personal Interface to the AccessGrid Suggested Hardware List - July 3, 2002
The Personal Interface to the AccessGrid (or PIG) is a single-machine, reduced-functionality
device intended to fill the needs of individuals or very small groups in
collaboration over the Grid.
The PIG solution that has been tested consists of a single machine supporting
personalized echo-cancelled audio, two video streams, and the full suite of
Virtual Venue interaction software. Supporting this level of interaction
requires a fairly significant amount of processing power and memory, so a
rather substantial computer is required. A recommended minimum is described
below. NOTE: The only video capture cards found to work so far
are the Osprey 200 PCI capture cards (http://www.viewcast.com). Other
cards may work, but modification of configuration files and additional trouble-shooting
may be necessary.
- Processor
- Dual P4-Xeon class processors, 1.5Ghz or faster
- Memory
- 512MB DDR-RAM (more is better)
- Video
- Dual-head AGP video card, Matrox G400 or better recommended
- Single-head PCI video card (minimum)
- Total of 3 viewable screens, 2 supported by AGP (for a total resoulution
of 3072x768)
- Audio
- Full-duplex audio support
- Video Capture
- (2) Osprey 200 PCI Video Capture cards
- Echo Cancellation
- Personal Echo Cancellation device, similar to the Polycom SoundPointPC
- Lucent TalkBak3 has been tested, and found to work, though audio
quality is sub-par
- Cameras
- Two cameras, one oriented to provide a constant image of the user,
a second variably oriented to display the workspace, as necessary for interaction/communication
- Network
- 100Mbit (minimum) multicast-capable network connection
- Operating System
- Microsoft Windows 2000 SP2 (with up-to-date hotfixes and patches applied)