GÉANT AND TEIN3: BRINGING CULTURES TOGETHER ACROSS CONTINENTS

1. GÉANT AND TEIN3: BRINGING CULTURES TOGETHER ACROSS CONTINENTS Domenico Vicinanza, DANTE Arts and Humanities session Terena Networking Conference 2010 Vilnius, Monday 31 May 2010

2. Agenda • Introduction and background • The network and the collaboration • The technology: DVTS • The network tests • The music • The choreography • The final results on stage

3. Introduction and background • GÉANT network presence and its interconnection to other world regions • capability to create artistic events • fusing experiences and cultural backgrounds • GÉANT launch event in Stockholm, 1-2 December 2009 • Exciting collaboration for a unique performance: • Two research networks, GÉANT and TEIN3 • Two continents • Two cultures 9,300 Km apart • joined through a music and dance performance • made possible by advanced connectivity

4. The collaboration and the network

5. The collaboration • The performance was the result of extensive collaboration: • Music was performed at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm • connected with optical fibre to SUNET • captured, digitalized and sent through the network to Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. • Music data travelled: • from Stockholm to Copenhagen on the NORDUnet link • then to London on the GÉANT network • then to Singapore on the TEIN3 link • then to Kuala Lumpur via TEIN3 and MYREN • Dance was performed at the Convention Center in Kuala Lumpur: • captured, digitalized and sent through the same path in reverse • then projected on stage in Stockholm

6. The intercontinental link betweenLondon and Singapore • GÉANT-TEIN3 network link: • 2.5 Gbit/s optical connection • London - Singapore • spanning almost 10,000 Km. • TEIN3: third generation of the Trans-Eurasia Information Network (TEIN) • High-capacity Internet for research and education communities across Asia-Pacific.

7. The Technology: DVTS The network tests

8. DVTS and audio/video streaming on TEIN3 • DVTS (Digital Video Transport System) bi-directional Audio/Video channel over the TEIN3 Link. • Multi-platform video/audio streaming application and hardware solution • for high-bandwidth, low-latency network • currently used for music master classes and conferences • Allows DV-quality video and audio across an IP network using • a fixed network bandwidth • inexpensive consumer-grade video and audio equipment. • First time DVTS supports a live performance across more than 9,000 Km

9. Testing the TEIN3 link • Test focus: • achievable bandwidth, packet loss, jitter • quality of the connection and its stability • ready for an intercontinental, high quality digital audio/video transmission in real time. • Tools: • UDPMon • Software package for investigating network performance, using UDP/IP frames. • Able to transmit streams of UDP packets at regular, carefully controlled intervals • Iperf • Network tool to generate TCP and UDP traffic and measure bandwidth performance.

10. UDPMon tests (Singapore – Stockholm):Bandwidth tests and packet loss • UDPMon results between Singapore (MYREN POP) and Stockholm (NORDUNet POP) • Bandwidth results: transmitting and receiving at line speed (1Gb/s) • Packet loss results: no packet loss! Bandwidth available Packet loss

11. Iperf results • Simulating DVTS traffic from Malaysia to Sweden • Comparing generated and received traffic: perfect matching! • No packet loss Traffic transmitted Traffic received

12. The music

13. Two special instruments on stage • Two very special musical instruments on stage: the Epigonion and the Barbiton • Ancient Greek instruments reconstructed by the ASTRA project using physical modelling • Computer virtual models based on archaeological findings • GÉANT and EUMEDCONNECT2 enabled the computer-intensive modelling The Epigonion (a) and the Barbiton (b) Photo courtesy of F. Baghino and F. Ugozzoli, VisArc Studio, Parma, Italy for ASTRA

14. Music • World premiere • Traditional Western musical scales and tuning • Original mixture of traditional composition and orchestration and audification of the GÉANT network GÉANT Network sonification process: (a) start from an empty score; (b) superimpose the (network) graph to sonify; (c) put notes according to the shape of the graph; (d) the melody

15. The choreography • The dance performed by the Art Exchange dancers in Kuala Lumpur • Water-stone symbolism: • Two powers that influence each others behaviour. • Water shapes stone, stone shapes water. • Choreographed on traditional Malaysian movements and costumes, The dancers in Kuala Lumpur

16. On stage

17. On stage, from Stockholm • GÉANT Launch performance from Stockholm. • Malaysian dancers choreography projected in the upper right corner, behind the musicians

18. DVTS in Stockholm DVTS settings in Stockholm during the GÉANT launch event

19. Credits • Thanks to all the NRENs, the NOCs and the engineer which made this event possible • Thanks to all the musicians and dancers • Lost Sounds Orchestra (www.lostsoundsorchestra) • The ASTRA Project (www.astraproject.org) • Zubin Mohamad and the Svarnabhumi Studio • Thanks to GARR which coordinated the DVTS effort

20. Thanks!

21. ASTRA Reconstruction Diagram Modelling and computation of ancient instruments in ASTRA

22. The Epigonion reconstruction • Wooden string instrument similar to a Lyre • Physical modelling on GÉANT and EUMEDCONNECT2 • Complex digital audio rendering technique to model the time-domain physics of an instrument • Special concert held in Naples, Italy on 14 December 2008. • First time ever that an instrument of the past, had performed alongside real instruments • An excerpt of the concert is available at www.astraproject.org/files/concertdemo.mov

23. Detail of the DVTS setting