Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3 2006
Alberta Synchrotron Institute Pioneers “Research by Remote Control” at Canadian Light Source
Researchers across the country will soon have access to the Canadian Light
Source synchrotron at the University of Saskatchewan right from their desktops
thanks to an ultrafast computer link pioneered by the Alberta Synchrotron
Institute (ASI) at the University of Alberta and CANARIE, Canada’s
advanced Internet development organization.
“It's like having a synchrotron on your desktop,” says ASI Executive
Director Ernst Bergmann, who successfully tested the system from his office at the
U of A in Edmonton in April.
“Remote access will allow protein crystallographers and eventually other synchrotron
researchers to greatly reduce travel time, turn around experiments faster, and use
the synchrotron facility much more effectively. Students can use the same system
to gain experience without the constant need for travel.”
Bergmann, who also heads ASI’s protein crystallography section, currently
spends about five days a month traveling to synchrotrons to further his own research.
The powerful X-rays generated by the CLS can be used to reveal the structure
of proteins, viruses and new pharmaceuticals as well as many other important materials.
“This is a great success for the Canadian synchrotron community and the CLS,” says
CLS Executive Director William Thomlinson. “This kind of remote access adds
a tremendous capability to our synchrotron and complements our traditional access
system. It brings the synchrotron to researchers and students who cannot be here
in person. ”
The $300,000 “End-to-End Lightpaths at Synchrotrons” initiative, an
Advanced Applications Project sponsored by CANARIE, brings the synchrotron to a
researcher’s desktop. It links researchers in Edmonton and Calgary directly
to a protein crystallography beamline of the CLS in Saskatoon.
Using dedicated fiber optic networks, called “lightpaths,” from Netera
Alliance, SRNet, CANARIE and BigBangwidth Inc., researchers can view
synchrotron experiments, directly control their samples using remote manipulation,
and transfer data back to their home labs in real time.
The project uses Canada’s research network, CA*net4, and local lightpath
networks to transfer information at rates up to 1 billion bytes per second, the
equivalent of two DVD discs. It provides a fast, predictable and totally secure
connection from a researcher's lab to a control computer at the CLS beamline.
Dedicated links are created on demand from the user's desktop to the remote facility.
BigBangwidth's Lightpath Accelerator System makes these links simple and effective,
so researchers can just point and click to access the synchrotron. The beamline
control software, videos and instruments used at the CLS are available in real
time and with perfect fidelity for the remote researcher.
For now, the remote access link is available only on the Canadian Macromolecular
Crystallography Facility (CMCF) beamline at the CLS, and only from Edmonton and
Calgary. By the end of 2006, many more Canadian researchers will have remote access
thanks to a follow-up project funded by CANARIE, BigBangwidth and IBM that
will extend dedicated fiber optic networks to other research centres across the
country. The new project, under CANARIE’s Intelligent Infrastructure Program,
will also allow connection to the new VESPERS beamline for Material Sciences at
the CLS.
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For more information contact:
Ernst Bergmann
Project Leader, Protein Crystallography & Executive Director
Alberta Synchrotron Institute
eb1@ualberta.ca
www.asi-cls.ca
(780) 492-8249
Matthew Dalzell
Communications Coordinator
Canadian Light Source, Inc.
matthew.dalzell@lightsource.ca
www.lightsource.ca
(306) 657-3739
Cell: (306) 227-0978
Stuart Lomas
Chief Software Architect
BigBangwidth Inc.
SLomas@BigBangwidth.com
www.bigbangwidth.com
(780) 490-4800 x234
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Synchrotron Research by Remote Control
Backgrounder
Alberta Synchrotron Institute (www.asi-cls.ca)
The ASI is a partnership of the research universities in Alberta and supports all
synchrotron science in the province. The ASI also represents Alberta in the development
of the Canadian Light Source. ASI is funded by the Province of Alberta, the Alberta
Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, the Alberta Ingenuity Fund and Western
Economic Diversification.
Canadian Light Source (www.lightsource.ca)
The Canadian Light Source is Canada’s national synchrotron facility, located
at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Synchrotron light is used to determine
the chemical nature and the molecular structure of materials, paving the way for
new drugs, more powerful computer chips, better engine lubricants, more effective
medical imaging, environmental monitoring and a host of other applications for
science and industry.
CANARIE (www.canarie.ca)
CANARIE, Canada's advanced Internet development organization, is a not-for-profit
corporation supported by its members, project partners and the federal government.
CANARIE's mission is to accelerate Canada's advanced Internet development and
use by facilitating the widespread adoption of faster, more efficient networks
and by enabling the next generation of advanced products, applications and services
to run on them.
BigBangwidth (http://bigbangwidth.com)
BigBangwidth develops and manufactures data networking products that manage huge
streams of data, smoothly and securely. The Lightpath Accelerator System is an
ideal solution for remote access to advanced technical facilities such as supercomputers,
data warehouses, and scientific instruments.
BigBangwidth's Lightpath Director products let network operators remotely control
lightpath connections and basic network topology.
Last modified: 2012-01-19 17:01:54