Optimal exploitation of client texture hardware capabilities on a client-server remote visualization framework

Abstract

Given a client-server communication network, with workstations equipped with 3D texture hardware, we propose a technique that guarantees the optimal use of the client texture hardware. We consider the best representation of a data model that has to be rendered on the client side as the one that requires the minimal texture space while preserving image quality. Taking into account this consideration the basis of the proposed technique is the selection of the best multiresolution representation from a volume hierarchy, maintained by the server. The key points of our proposal are: (i) the hierarchical data structure used, either by the server and the client, to maintain the data; (ii) the data management process applied by the server to satisfy client requirements.(iii) the possibility of the client to predict part of one transmission by analyzing the previous one. Such a capability allows the client to perform some computations in advance and, therefore, reduces frame rates.