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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2024

Simulation of the Charged Particle Deflection From the Sweeping Magnet Array in the Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-Ray Imager

The Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI) is an instrument built to image x-rays from solar wind charge exchange in Earth’s magneto sheath. Monitoring the position of the magnetopause at the inner boundary of the magneto sheath allows us to understand how magnetic reconnection regulates how energy from the solar wind is deposited into Earth’s magnetosphere. LEXI is part of an upcoming lunar lander mission set to land in Mare Crisium. To repel unwanted charged particles, the instrument carries a permanent magnet array composed of 48 neodymium magnets. The array was designed to maximize charged particle deflection while minimizing stray magnetic fields, which could impact other instruments or spacecraft operation. A Runge–Kutta-based fully kinetic particle tracing model was created to evaluate the effectiveness of LEXI’s unique charged particle deflector array. Combined with the other particle suppression measures of the instrument, including physical structures and filters, the simulations show proton and electron transmission to the LEXI detector is expected to be sufficiently reduced to allow successful imaging. The flexible simulation model can be generalized to be used in examining the magnetic deflector array effectiveness of other instruments whose signals could be compromised by unwanted charged particle contamination.

Space environment effects↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-G-TeP3-08: Pre-Clinical Radionuclide Therapy Dosimetry in Several Pediatric Cancer Xenografts

Purpose: The focus of this work is to perform Monte Carlo-based dosimetry for several pediatric cancer xenografts in mice treated with a novel radiopharmaceutical {sup 131}I-CLR1404. Methods: Four mice for each tumor cell line were injected with 8–13 µCi/g of the {sup 124}124I-CLR1404. PET/CT images of each individual mouse were acquired at 5–6 time points over the span of 96–170 hours post-injection. Following acquisition, the images were co-registered, resampled, rescaled, corrected for partial volume effects (PVE), and masked. For this work the pre-treatment PET images of {sup 124}I-CLR1404 were used to predict therapeutic doses from {sup 131}I-CLR1404 at each time point by assuming the same injection activity and accounting for the difference in physical decay rates. Tumors and normal tissues were manually contoured using anatomical and functional images. The CT and the PET images were used in the Geant4 (v9.6) Monte Carlo simulation to define the geometry and source distribution, respectively. The total cumulated absorbed dose was calculated by numerically integrating the dose-rate at each time point over all time on a voxel-by-voxel basis. Results: Spatial distributions of the absorbed dose rates and dose volume histograms as well as mean, minimum, maximum, and total dose values for each ROI were generated for each time point. Conclusion: This work demonstrates how mouse-specific MC-based dosimetry could potentially provide more accurate characterization of efficacy of novel radiopharmaceuticals in radionuclide therapy. This work is partially funded by NIH grant CA198392.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magnetic Resonance–Based Automatic Air Segmentation for Generation of Synthetic Computed Tomography Scans in the Head Region

Purpose: To incorporate a novel imaging sequence for robust air and tissue segmentation using ultrashort echo time (UTE) phase images and to implement an innovative synthetic CT (synCT) solution as a first step toward MR-only radiation therapy treatment planning for brain cancer. Methods and Materials: Ten brain cancer patients were scanned with a UTE/Dixon sequence and other clinical sequences on a 1.0 T open magnet with simulation capabilities. Bone-enhanced images were generated from a weighted combination of water/fat maps derived from Dixon images and inverted UTE images. Automated air segmentation was performed using unwrapped UTE phase maps. Segmentation accuracy was assessed by calculating segmentation errors (true-positive rate, false-positive rate, and Dice similarity indices using CT simulation (CT-SIM) as ground truth. The synCTs were generated using a voxel-based, weighted summation method incorporating T2, fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), UTE1, and bone-enhanced images. Mean absolute error (MAE) characterized Hounsfield unit (HU) differences between synCT and CT-SIM. A dosimetry study was conducted, and differences were quantified using γ-analysis and dose-volume histogram analysis. Results: On average, true-positive rate and false-positive rate for the CT and MR-derived air masks were 80.8% ± 5.5% and 25.7% ± 6.9%, respectively. Dice similarity indices values were 0.78 ± 0.04 (range, 0.70-0.83). Full field of view MAE between synCT and CT-SIM was 147.5 ± 8.3 HU (range, 138.3-166.2 HU), with the largest errors occurring at bone–air interfaces (MAE 422.5 ± 33.4 HU for bone and 294.53 ± 90.56 HU for air). Gamma analysis revealed pass rates of 99.4% ± 0.04%, with acceptable treatment plan quality for the cohort. Conclusions: A hybrid MRI phase/magnitude UTE image processing technique was introduced that significantly improved bone and air contrast in MRI. Segmented air masks and bone-enhanced images were integrated into our synCT pipeline for brain, and results agreed well with clinical CTs, thereby supporting MR-only radiation therapy treatment planning in the brain.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
NASA NTRS1989

Contrasting landform perception with varied radar illumination geometries and at simulated resolutions of Venera and Magellan

The high sensitivity of imaging radars to slope at moderate to low incidence angles enhances the perception of linear topography on images. It reveals broad spatial patterns that are essential to landform mapping and interpretation. As radar responses are strongly directional, the ability to discriminate linear features on images varies with their orientation. Landforms that appear prominent on images where they are transverse to the illumination may be obscure to indistinguishable on images where they are parallel to it. Landform detection is also influenced by the spatial resolution in radar images. Seasat radar images of the Gran Desierto Dunes complex, Sonora, Mexico; the Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province; and accreted terranes in eastern interior Alaska were processed to simulate both Venera 15 and 16 images (1000 to 3000 km resolution) and image data expected from the Magellan mission (120 to 300 m resolution. The Gran Desierto Dunes are not discernable in the Venera simulation, whereas the higher resolution Magellan simulation shows dominant dune patterns produced from differential erosion of the rocks. The Magellan simulation also shows that fluvial processes have dominated erosion and exposure of the folds.

Ford, J. P.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Degradation of proton depth dose distributions attributable to microstructures in lung-equivalent material

Purpose: The purpose of the work reported here was to investigate the influence of sub-millimeter size heterogeneities on the degradation of the distal edges of proton beams and to validate Monte Carlo (MC) methods’ ability to correctly predict such degradation. Methods: A custom-designed high-resolution plastic phantom approximating highly heterogeneous, lung-like structures was employed in measurements and in Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the degradation of proton Bragg curves penetrating heterogeneous media. Results: Significant differences in distal falloff widths and in peak dose values were observed in the measured and the Monte Carlo simulated curves compared to pristine proton Bragg curves. Furthermore, differences between simulations of beams penetrating CT images of the phantom did not agree well with the corresponding experimental differences. The distal falloff widths in CT image-based geometries were underestimated by up to 0.2 cm in water (corresponding to 0.8–1.4 cm in lung tissue), and the peak dose values of pristine proton beams were overestimated by as much as ~35% compared to measured curves or depth-dose curves simulated on the basis of true geometry. The authors demonstrate that these discrepancies were caused by the limited spatial resolution of CT images that served as a basis for dose calculations and lead to underestimation of the impact of the fine structure of tissue heterogeneities. A convolution model was successfully applied to mitigate the underestimation. Conclusions: The results of this study justify further development of models to better represent heterogeneity effects in soft-tissue geometries, such as lung, and to correct systematic underestimation of the degradation of the distal edge of proton doses.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

A Technique for Generating Volumetric Cine-Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a techique to generate on-board volumetric cine-magnetic resonance imaging (VC-MRI) using patient prior images, motion modeling, and on-board 2-dimensional cine MRI. Methods and Materials: One phase of a 4-dimensional MRI acquired during patient simulation is used as patient prior images. Three major respiratory deformation patterns of the patient are extracted from 4-dimensional MRI based on principal-component analysis. The on-board VC-MRI at any instant is considered as a deformation of the prior MRI. The deformation field is represented as a linear combination of the 3 major deformation patterns. The coefficients of the deformation patterns are solved by the data fidelity constraint using the acquired on-board single 2-dimensional cine MRI. The method was evaluated using both digital extended-cardiac torso (XCAT) simulation of lung cancer patients and MRI data from 4 real liver cancer patients. The accuracy of the estimated VC-MRI was quantitatively evaluated using volume-percent-difference (VPD), center-of-mass-shift (COMS), and target tracking errors. Effects of acquisition orientation, region-of-interest (ROI) selection, patient breathing pattern change, and noise on the estimation accuracy were also evaluated. Results: Image subtraction of ground-truth with estimated on-board VC-MRI shows fewer differences than image subtraction of ground-truth with prior image. Agreement between normalized profiles in the estimated and ground-truth VC-MRI was achieved with less than 6% error for both XCAT and patient data. Among all XCAT scenarios, the VPD between ground-truth and estimated lesion volumes was, on average, 8.43 ± 1.52% and the COMS was, on average, 0.93 ± 0.58 mm across all time steps for estimation based on the ROI region in the sagittal cine images. Matching to ROI in the sagittal view achieved better accuracy when there was substantial breathing pattern change. The technique was robust against noise levels up to SNR = 20. For patient data, average tracking errors were less than 2 mm in all directions for all patients. Conclusions: Preliminary studies demonstrated the feasibility of generating real-time VC-MRI for on-board localization of moving targets in radiation therapy.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Kilovoltage Rotational External Beam Radiotherapy on a Breast Computed Tomography Platform: A Feasibility Study

Purpose: To demonstrate the feasibility of a dedicated breast computed tomography (bCT) platform to deliver rotational kilovoltage (kV) external beam radiotherapy (RT) for partial breast irradiation, whole breast irradiation, and dose painting. Methods and Materials: Rotational kV-external beam RT using the geometry of a prototype bCT platform was evaluated using a Monte Carlo simulator. A point source emitting 178 keV photons (approximating a 320-kVp spectrum with 4-mm copper filtration) was rotated around a 14-cm voxelized polyethylene disk (0.1 cm tall) or cylinder (9 cm tall) to simulate primary and primary plus scattered photon interactions, respectively. Simulations were also performed using voxelized bCT patient images. Beam collimation was varied in the x-y plane (1-14 cm) and in the z-direction (0.1-10 cm). Dose painting for multiple foci, line, and ring distributions was demonstrated using multiple rotations with varying beam collimation. Simulations using the scanner's native hardware (120 kVp filtered by 0.2-mm copper) were validated experimentally. Results: As the x-y collimator was narrowed, the two-dimensional dose profiles shifted from a cupped profile with a high edge dose to an increasingly peaked central dose distribution with a sharp dose falloff. Using a 1-cm beam, the cylinder edge dose was <7% of the dose deposition at the cylinder center. Simulations using 120-kVp X-rays showed distributions similar to the experimental measurements. A homogeneous dose distribution (<2.5% dose fluctuation) with a 20% decrease in dose deposition at the cylinder edge (i.e., skin sparing) was demonstrated by weighted summation of four dose profiles using different collimation widths. Simulations using patient bCT images demonstrated the potential for treatment planning and image-guided RT. Conclusions: Rotational kV-external beam RT for partial breast irradiation, dose painting, and whole breast irradiation with skin sparing is feasible on a bCT platform with the potential for high-resolution image-guided RT.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Finding quadruply imaged quasars with machine learning – I. Methods

ABSTRACT Strongly lensed quadruply imaged quasars (quads) are extraordinary objects. They are very rare in the sky and yet they provide unique information about a wide range of topics, including the expansion history and the composition of the Universe, the distribution of stars and dark matter in galaxies, the host galaxies of quasars, and the stellar initial mass function. Finding them in astronomical images is a classic ‘needle in a haystack’ problem, as they are outnumbered by other (contaminant) sources by many orders of magnitude. To solve this problem, we develop state-of-the-art deep learning methods and train them on realistic simulated quads based on real images of galaxies taken from the Dark Energy Survey, with realistic source and deflector models, including the chromatic effects of microlensing. The performance of the best methods on a mixture of simulated and real objects is excellent, yielding area under the receiver operating curve in the range of 0.86–0.89. Recall is close to 100 per cent down to total magnitude i ∼ 21 indicating high completeness, while precision declines from 85 per cent to 70 per cent in the range i ∼ 17–21. The methods are extremely fast: training on 2 million samples takes 20 h on a GPU machine, and 108 multiband cut-outs can be evaluated per GPU-hour. The speed and performance of the method pave the way to apply it to large samples of astronomical sources, bypassing the need for photometric pre-selection that is likely to be a major cause of incompleteness in current samples of known quads.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

An Efficient Algorithm for Mapping Imaging Data to 3D Unstructured Grids in Computational Biomechanics

Geometries for organ scale and multiscale simulations of organ function are now routinely derived from imaging data. However, medical images may also contain spatially heterogeneous information other than geometry that are relevant to such simulations either as initial conditions or in the form of model parameters. In this manuscript, we present an algorithm for the efficient and robust mapping of such data to imaging based unstructured polyhedral grids in parallel. We then illustrate the application of our mapping algorithm to three different mapping problems: 1) the mapping of MRI diffusion tensor data to an unstuctured ventricular grid; 2) the mapping of serial cyro-section histology data to an unstructured mouse brain grid; and 3) the mapping of CT-derived volumetric strain data to an unstructured multiscale lung grid. Execution times and parallel performance are reported for each case.

Einstein, Daniel R.↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-G-IeP4-04: DD-Neutron Source Collimation for Neutron Stimulated Emission Computed Tomography: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study

Purpose: To optimize collimation and shielding for a deuterium-deuterium (DD) neutron generator for an inexpensive and compact clinical neutron imaging system. The envisioned application is cancer diagnosis through Neutron Stimulated Emission Computed Tomography (NSECT). Methods: Collimator designs were tested with an isotropic 2.5 MeV neutron source through GEANT4 simulations. The collimator is a 52×52×52 cm{sup 3} polyethylene block coupled with a 1 cm lead sheet in sequence. Composite opening was modeled into the collimator to permit passage of neutrons. The opening varied in shape (cylindrical vs. tapered), size (1–5 cm source-side and target-side openings) and aperture placements (13–39 cm from source-side). Spatial and energy distribution of neutrons and gammas were tracked from each collimator design. Parameters analyzed were primary beam width (FWHM), divergence, and efficiency (percent transmission) for different configurations of the collimator. Select resultant outputs were then used for simulated NSECT imaging of a virtual breast phantom containing a 2.5 cm diameter tumor to assess the effect of the collimator on spatial resolution, noise, and scan time. Finally, composite shielding enclosure made of polyethylene and lead was designed and evaluated to block 99.99% of neutron and gamma radiation generated in the system. Results: Analysis of primary beam indicated the beam-width is linear to the aperture size. Increasing source-side opening allowed at least 20% more neutron throughput for all designs relative to the cylindrical openings. Maximum throughput for all designs was 364% relative to cylindrical openings. Conclusion: The work indicates potential for collimating and shielding a DD neutron generator for use in a clinical NSECT system. The proposed collimator designs produced a well-defined collimated neutron beam that can be used to image samples of interest with millimeter resolution. Balance in output efficiency, noise reduction, and scan time should be considered to determine the optimal design for specific NSECT applications.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Gaussian Process Classification for Galaxy Blend Identification in LSST

Abstract A significant fraction of observed galaxies in the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will overlap at least one other galaxy along the same line of sight, in a so-called “blend.” The current standard method of assessing blend likelihood in LSST images relies on counting up the number of intensity peaks in the smoothed image of a blend candidate, but the reliability of this procedure has not yet been comprehensively studied. Here we construct a realistic distribution of blended and unblended galaxies through high-fidelity simulations of LSST-like images, and from this we examine the blend classification accuracy of the standard peak-finding method. Furthermore, we develop a novel Gaussian process blend classifier model, and show that this classifier is competitive with both the peak finding method as well as with a convolutional neural network model. Finally, whereas the peak-finding method does not naturally assign probabilities to its classification estimates, the Gaussian process model does, and we show that the Gaussian process classification probabilities are generally reliable.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Proton pinhole imaging on the National Ignition Facility

Pinhole imaging of large (mm scale) carbon-deuterium (CD) plasmas by proton self-emission has been used for the first time to study the microphysics of shock formation, which is of astrophysical relevance. The 3 MeV deuterium-deuterium (DD) fusion proton self-emission from these plasmas is imaged using a novel pinhole imaging system, with up to five different 1 mm diameter pinholes positioned 25 cm from target-chamber center. CR39 is used as the detector medium, positioned at 100 cm distance from the pinhole for a magnification of 4 ×. A Wiener deconvolution algorithm is numerically demonstrated and used to interpret the images. When the spatial morphology is known, this algorithm accurately reproduces the size of features larger than about half the pinhole diameter. For these astrophysical plasma experiments on the National Ignition Facility, this provides a strong constraint on simulation modeling of the experiment.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2019

Magnetization Distribution in Particles with Configuration Anisotropy, Prepared via Microsphere Lithography

The arrays of permalloy particles with shape anisotropy, prepared via microsphere lithography, have been characterized using atomic force microscopy and magnetic force microscopy. The size effect from spherical particles used as the lithographic mask on the magnetization distribution in the produced particles has been investigated. The magnetic force images of particles have been simulated in order to obtain quantitative values. A comparison of shape reproducibility of particles prepared using microsphere lithography and scanning probe lithography is performed as well.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2006

Is the Linear Mode Conversion Theory Viable for Generating Kilometric Continuum?

Kilometric Continuum (KC) usually exhibits a complicated banded radiation pattern observed in frequency time spectrograms. Can the number of bands, the frequency range over which the bands are observed, and their time variation be explained with Linear Mode Conversion Theory (LMCT) using realistic plasmapause models and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) plasmaspheric observations? In this paper we compare KC observations with simulated frequency emission bands based on LMCT for a number of cases. In LMCT the allowed frequency range across the equatorial plasmapause is restricted to frequencies much greater than the electron cyclotron frequency (fce) and less than the maximum plasma frequency in this region. Fce also determines the number of allowed bands in this range. Is the observed frequency range and number of bands consistent with the predications of LMCT? Can irregularities in the shape of plasmaspheric structures like notches be observed in the time variations of KC emissions? We will investigate these and other questions. Simulated radiation patterns will be generated by ray tracing calculations in the L-O mode from the radio window at the near equatorial plasmapause. The KC observations used in this study are from the Plasma Wave Instrument on the Geotail spacecraft and from the Radio Plasma Imager on the IMAGE spacecraft. The plasmasphere and plasmapause will be derived either from plasmasphere simulations, from images by the EUV imager on the IMAGE spacecraft, and by using empirical models. In situ plasma density measurements from a number of spacecraft will also be used in order to reconstruct the plasmasphere for these case studies.

Boardsen, Scott A.↗
DOE OSTI2014

TU-F-18C-08: Micro-Calcification Detectability Using Spectral Breast CT Based On a Si Strip Detector

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of micro-calcification (μCa) detectability by using an energy-resolved photon-counting Si strip detector for spectral breast computed tomography (CT). Methods: A bench-top CT system was constructed using a tungsten anode x-ray source with a focal spot size of 0.8 mm and a single line 256-pixel Si strip photon counting detector with a pixel pitch of 100 μm. The slice thickness was 0.5 mm. Five different size groups of calcium carbonate grains, from 105 to 215 μm in diameter, were embedded in a cylindrical resin phantom with a diameter of 16 mm to simulate μCas. The phantoms were imaged at 65 kVp with an Entrance Skin Air Kerma (ESAK) of 1.2, 3, 6, and 8 mGy. The images were reconstructed using a standard filtered back projection (FBP) with a ramp filter. A total of 200 μCa images (5 different sizes of μCas × 4 different doses × 10 images for each setting) were combined with another 200 control images without μCas, to ultimately form 400 images for the reader study. The images were displayed in random order to three blinded observers, who were asked to give a binary score on each image regarding the presence of μCas. The μCa detectability for each image was evaluated in terms of binary decision theory metrics. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated to study the size and dose-dependence for μCa detectability. Additionally, the influence of the partial volume effect on the μCa detectability was investigated by simulation. Results: For a μCa larger than 140 μm in diameter, detection accuracy of above 90 % was achieved with the investigated prototype spectral CT system at ESAK of 1.2 mGy. Conclusion: The proposed Si strip detector is expected to offer superior image quality with the capability to detect μCas for low dose breast imaging.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-J-38: Dose Rates and Preliminary Evaluation of Contouring Similarity Metrics Using 4D Cone Beam CT

Purpose: 4D imaging modalities require detailed characterization for clinical optimization. The On-Board Imager mounted on the linear accelerator was used to investigate dose rates in a tissue mimicking phantom using 4D-CBCT and assess variability of contouring similarity metrics between 4D-CT and 4D-CBCT retrospective reconstructions. Methods: A 125 kVp thoracic protocol was used. A phantom placed on a motion platform simulated a patient’s breathing cycle. An ion chamber was affixed inside the phantom’s tissue mimicking cavities (i.e. bone, lung, and soft tissue). A sinusoidal motion waveform was executed with a five second period and superior-inferior motion. Dose rates were measured at six ion chamber positions. A preliminary workflow for contouring similarity between 4D-CT and 4D-CBCT was established using a single lung SBRT patient’s historical data. Average intensity projection (Ave-IP) and maximum intensity projection (MIP) reconstructions generated offline were compared between the 4D modalities. Similarity metrics included Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Hausdorff distance, and center of mass (COM) deviation. Two isolated lesions were evaluated in the patient’s scans: one located in the right lower lobe (ITVRLL) and one located in the left lower lobe (ITVLLL). Results: Dose rates ranged from 2.30 (lung) to 5.18 (bone) E-3 cGy/mAs. For fixed acquisition parameters, cumulative dose is inversely proportional to gantry speed. For ITVRLL, DSC were 0.70 and 0.68, Hausdorff distances were 6.11 and 5.69 mm, and COM deviations were 1.24 and 4.77 mm, for Ave-IP and MIP respectively. For ITVLLL, DSC were 0.64 and 0.75, Hausdorff distances were 10.74 and 8.00 mm, and COM deviations were 7.55 and 4.3 mm, for Ave-IP and MIP respectively. Conclusion: While the dosimetric output of 4D-CBCT is low, characterization is necessary to assure clinical optimization. A basic workflow for comparison of simulation and treatment 4D image-based contours was established. This work was partially supported by a Research Scholar Grant (RSG-15-137-01-CCE) from the American Cancer Society.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ion energy distribution in an electron beam ion trap inferred from simulations of the trapped ion cloud

For this work, we have inferred the energy distribution of trapped ions in an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) from simulations of the spatial distribution of Fe 13+ ions and a comparison with measured visible light images of the ion cloud. We simulated the cloud of Fe 13+ ions by computing ion trajectories in the EBIT for different ion energy distributions used to initialize the trajectories. We then performed a least-squares fit to infer the ion energy distribution that best reproduced the measured ion cloud. These best-fit distributions were typically non-Maxwellian. For electron beam energies of 395–475 eV and electron beam currents of 1–9 mA, we find that the average ion energy is in the range of 10–300 eV. We also find that the average ion energy increases with increasing beam current approximately as $\langle$E$\rangle$ ≈ 25 I e eV, where I e is the electron beam current in mA. We have also compared our results to Maxwell-Boltzmann-distribution ion clouds. We find that our best-fit non-thermal distributions have an $\langle$E$\rangle$ that is less than half that of the T from the best-fit Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions ($\langle$E$\rangle$/q)/T=0.41 ± 0.05.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Hard Disk/Solid State Drive Synergy in Support of Data-Intensive Computing [Slides]

Data-intensive applications are becoming increasingly common in high-performance computing. Examples include combustion simulation, human genome analysis, and satellite image processing. Efficient access of data sets is critical to the performance of these applications. Because of the size of the data today's economically feasible approach is to store the data files on an array of hard disks or data servers equipped with hard disks and managed by a parallel file system such as PVFS or Lustre wherein the data is striped over a (large) number of disks for high aggregate I/O throughout. With file striping, a request for a segment of logically contiguous file space is decomposed into multiple sub-requests, each to a different server. While the data unit for this striping is usually reasonably large to benefit disk efficiency, the first and/or last sub-requests can be much smaller than the striping unit if the request does not align with the striping pattern, severely compromising hard disk efficiency and thus application performance. We propose to exploit solid state drives (SSD), whose efficiency is much less sensitive to small random accesses, to enable the alignment of requests to disk with the data striping pattern. In this scheme hard disks mainly serve large, aligned, sequential requests, with SSDs serving small or unaligned requests, thus respecting the relative cost, performance, and durability characteristics of the two media, and thereby achieving synergy in performance/cost. We will describe the design of the proposed scheme, its implementation on CCS-7's Darwin cluster, and performance results.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗