Viewshed refers to the calculation and visualisation of what part of a terrain isvisible from a given observer point. It is used within many fields, such as militaryplanning or telecommunication tower placement. So far, no general fast methodsexist for calculating the viewshed for multiple observers that may for instancerepresent a road within the terrain. Additionally, if the terrain contains over-lapping structures such as man-made constructions like bridges, most currentviewshed algorithms fail. This report describes two novel methods for viewshedcalculation using multiple observers for terrain that may contain overlappingstructures. The methods have been developed at Vricon in Linköping as a Mas-ter’s Thesis project. Both methods are implemented using the graphics program-ming unit and the OpenGL graphics library, using a computer graphics approach.Results are presented in the form of figures and images, as well as running timetables using two different test setups. Lastly, future possible improvements arealso discussed. The results show that the first method is a viable real-time solu-tion and that the second method requires some additional work.

This master's thesis deals with acceleration of pixel interpolation methods using the GPU and NVIDIA (R) CUDA TM architecture. Graphic output is represented by a demonstrational application for geometrical image transforms using chosen interpolation method. Time critical parts of the code are moved on the GPU and executed in parallel. There are used highly optimized routines from the OpenCV library, made by the Intel company for an image and video processing.

Astronomical image subtraction is a method for generating a difference image from two images, which covers the same area but taken at different times, in order to see changes over time. Due to the images being taken at different times, one of the images has to be convolved, to match the atmospheric conditions ofthe other image. HOTPANTS is an open source software used for astronomical image subtraction. The problem is that HOTPANTS is written in serial C and therefore does not scale well with growing image sizes. There have been previous efforts to parallelize HOTPANTS, which include P-HOTPANTS and GBAISP. However, these projects are outdated or unavailable, respectively. The latest effort, BACH, is a reimplementation of HOTPANTS in C++, where the convolution and subtraction parts have been parallelized on a GPU using OpenCL. This thesis project is a continuation of BACH, called X-BACH, which aims to parallelize the remaining parts of the HOTPANTS algorithm using OpenCL. The results show that some parts of the HOTPANTS algorithm, excluding convolution and subtraction, are highly suitable for the GPU while other parts arenot suitable for the GPU. It is believed that some parts which are not suitable forthe GPU are highly suitable for CPU parallelization. Overall, running on an external GPU, X-BACH achieves a relative speed of 1 to 2 compared to BACH, and a relative of 0.8 to 2.5 compared to HOTPANTS. When running on an integrated GPU, X-BACH achieves a relative speed of 0.5 to 1.2 compared to BACH, and a relative speed of 0.3 to 2 compared to HOTPANTS. Some parts of the algorithm achieves a speedup of up to 10 times when parallelized on a GPU. In terms of accuracy, X-BACH generally obtains a maximum relative error in order of magnitude ranging from 10−7 to 10−1. However, on certain test images, the algorithm has been observed to be unstable.

This work deals with the OpenCL technology and its use for the task of object detection. The introduction is devoted to description of OpenCL fundamentals, as well as basic theory of object detection. Next chapter of the work is analysis, with design proposal which takes into consideration the possibilities of OpenCL. Further, there's description of implementation of detection application and experimental evaluation of detector's performance. The last chapter summarizes the achieved results.

Das Problem des fehlenden Augenkontaktes vermindert den Eindruck einer natürlichen Kommunikationssituation bei Videokonferenzen. Während eine Person auf den Bildschirm blickt, wird sie von Kameras aufgenommen, die sich normalerweise direkt daneben befinden. Mit dem Aufkommen von massiv paralleler Computer Hardware und ganz speziell den sehr leistungsstarken Spielegrafikkarten ist es möglich geworden, viele Eingabeansichten für eine Echtzeit 3D Rekonstruktion zu verarbeiten. Eine größere Anzahl von Eingabeansichten mildert Verdeckungsprobleme ab und führt zu vollständigeren 3D Daten. In dieser Arbeit werden neue Algorithmen vorgeschlagen, welche eine hochqualitative Echtzeit 3D Rekonstruktion, die kontinuierliche Anpassung der photometrischen Kameraparameter und die benutzerunabhängige Schätzung der Augenkontaktkameras ermöglichen. Die Echtzeit 3D Analyse besteht aus zwei komplementären Ansätzen. Einerseits gibt es einen Algorithmus, der auf der Verarbeitung geometrischer Formen basiert und auf der anderen Seite steht eine patchbasierte Technik, die 3D Hypothesen durch das Vergleichen von Bildtexturen evaluiert. Zur Vorbereitung für die Bildsynthese ist es notwendig, Texturen von verschiedenen Ansichten anzugleichen. Hierfür wird die Anwendung eines neuen Algorithmus zur kontinuierlichen photometrischen Justierung der Kameraparameter vorgeschlagen. Die photometrische Anpassung wird iterativ, im Wechsel mit einer 3D Registrierung der entsprechenden Ansichten, ausgeführt. So ist die Qualität der photometrischen Parameter direkt mit jener der Ergebnisse der 3D Analyse verbunden und vice versa. Eine weitere wichtige Voraussetzung für eine korrekte Synthese der Augenkontaktansicht ist die Schätzung einer passenden virtuellen Augenkontaktkamera. Hierfür wird die Augenkontaktkamera kontinuierlich an die Augenposition der Benutzer angeglichen. Auf diese Weise wird eine virtuelle Kommunikationsumgebung geschaffen, die eine natürlichere Kommunikation ermöglicht. / A major problem, that decreases the naturalness of conversations via video communication, is missing eye contact. While a person is looking on the display, she or he is recorded from cameras that are usually attached next to the display frame. With the advent of massively parallel computer hardware and in particular very powerful consumer graphics cards, it became possible to simultaneously process multiple input views for real-time 3D reconstruction. Here, a greater amount of input views mitigate occlusion problems and lead to a more complete set of 3D data that is available for view synthesis. In this thesis, novel algorithms are proposed that enable for high quality real-time 3D reconstruction, the on-line alignment of photometric camera parameters, and the automatic and user independent estimation of the eye contact cameras. The real-time 3D analysis consist of two complementary approaches. On the one hand, a shape based algorithm and on the other hand, a patch based technique that evaluates 3D hypotheses via comparison of image textures. Preparative to rendering, texture from multiple views needs to be aligned. For this purpose, a novel algorithm for photometric on-line adjustment of the camera parameters is proposed. The photometric adjustment is carried out iteratively in alternation with a 3D registration of the respective views. In this way, the quality of photometric parameters is directly linked to the 3D analysis results and vice versa. Based on the textured 3D data, the eye contact view is rendered. An important prerequisite for this task is the estimation of a suitable virtual eye contact camera. In this thesis, a novel approach is formulated that enables for an automatic adaptation to arbitrary new users. Therefor, the eye contact camera is dynamically adapted to the current eye positions of the users. In this way, a virtual communication environment is created that allows for a more natural conversation.

<p>Examensarbetet handlar om en jämförelsestudie av beräkningseffektivitet med avseende på energi- och tidsförbrukning mellan grafikkort och processorer i persondatorer och PlayStation 3.</p><p>Problemet studeras för att göra allmänheten uppmärksam på att det går att lösa en del av energiproblematiken med beräkningar genom att öka energieffektiviteten av beräkningsenheterna.</p><p>Undersökningen har genomförts på ett explorativt sätt och studerar förhållandet mellan processorer, grafikkort och vilken som presterar bäst i vilket sammanhang. Prestandatest genomförs med molekylberäkningsprogrammet F@H och med filkomprimeringsprogrammet WinRAR. Testerna utförs på MultiCore- och SingleCorePCs och PS3s av olika karaktär. I vissa test mäts effektförbrukning för att kunna räkna ut hur energieffektiva vissa system är.</p><p>Resultatet visar tydligt hur den genomsnittliga effektförbrukningen och energieffektiviteten för olika testsystem skiljer sig vid belastning, viloläge och olika typer beräkningar.</p> / <p>The thesis is a comparative study of computational efficiency in terms of energy and time consumption of graphics cards and processors in personal computers and Playstation3’s.</p><p>The problem is studied in order to make the public aware that it is possible to solve some of the energy problems with computations by increasing energy efficiency of the computational units.</p><p>The audit was conducted in an exploratory way, studying the relationship between the processors, graphics cards and which one performs best in which context. Performance tests are carried out by the molecule calculating F@H-program and the file compression program WinRAR. Tests performed on MultiCore and SingleCore PC’s and PS3’s with different characteristics. In some tests power consumption is measured in order to figure out how energy-efficient certain systems are.</p><p>The results clearly show how the average power consumption and energy efficiency for various test systems at differ at load, sleep and various calculations.</p><p> </p>

Examensarbetet handlar om en jämförelsestudie av beräkningseffektivitet med avseende på energi- och tidsförbrukning mellan grafikkort och processorer i persondatorer och PlayStation 3. Problemet studeras för att göra allmänheten uppmärksam på att det går att lösa en del av energiproblematiken med beräkningar genom att öka energieffektiviteten av beräkningsenheterna. Undersökningen har genomförts på ett explorativt sätt och studerar förhållandet mellan processorer, grafikkort och vilken som presterar bäst i vilket sammanhang. Prestandatest genomförs med molekylberäkningsprogrammet F@H och med filkomprimeringsprogrammet WinRAR. Testerna utförs på MultiCore- och SingleCorePCs och PS3s av olika karaktär. I vissa test mäts effektförbrukning för att kunna räkna ut hur energieffektiva vissa system är. Resultatet visar tydligt hur den genomsnittliga effektförbrukningen och energieffektiviteten för olika testsystem skiljer sig vid belastning, viloläge och olika typer beräkningar. / The thesis is a comparative study of computational efficiency in terms of energy and time consumption of graphics cards and processors in personal computers and Playstation3’s. The problem is studied in order to make the public aware that it is possible to solve some of the energy problems with computations by increasing energy efficiency of the computational units. The audit was conducted in an exploratory way, studying the relationship between the processors, graphics cards and which one performs best in which context. Performance tests are carried out by the molecule calculating F@H-program and the file compression program WinRAR. Tests performed on MultiCore and SingleCore PC’s and PS3’s with different characteristics. In some tests power consumption is measured in order to figure out how energy-efficient certain systems are. The results clearly show how the average power consumption and energy efficiency for various test systems at differ at load, sleep and various calculations.

This thesis represents master's thesis focused on acceleration of Genetic algorithms using GPU. First chapter deeply analyses Genetic algorithms and corresponding topics like population, chromosome, crossover, mutation and selection. Next part of the thesis shows GPU abilities for unified computing using both DirectX/OpenGL with Cg and specialized GPGPU libraries like CUDA. The fourth chapter focuses on design of GPU implementation using CUDA, coarse-grained and fine-grained GAs are discussed, and completed by sorting and random number generation task accelerated by GPU. Next chapter covers implementation details -- migration, crossover and selection schemes mapped on CUDA software model. All GA elements and quality of GPU results are described in the last chapter.