Domain-specific application developers face two challenges when attempting to integrate and utilize the Grid. First, the set of tools required to develop applications for any Grid infrastructure is unnecessarily complicated. Grid middleware packages provide different yet overlapping functionality. The myriad of packages often have different programming interfaces; some offer only command line (or linked library) access, whereas others offer web service interfaces. Second, the "Grid" is a new development. The life cycle of Grid components or versions often change two to three times faster than scientific applications they provide a framework to help enable scientists to invoke in a distributed environment, necessitating frequent changes to the integrated applications. Furthermore, both challenges require the application developer to have a deep understanding of Grid technologies and capabilities. It is our view that this knowledge, while helpful, should not be a requirement.

As observed by many working in this frontier area, these challenges often form a prohibitive barrier, deterring interaction between domain application developers and computer scientists evolving distributed systems such as grid tools or what has more recently been dubbed "cyberinfrastructure" in the US.

To address these challenges, we developed the Telescience Application to Middleware Interaction Components (ATOMIC): a layer of services and tools that sits between core middleware services and the highest level portal and application layer. ATOMIC fills the gap between services and allows developers to interact with what appears to be a single library of tools for each type of Grid middleware interaction, abstracting the component pieces that compose that interaction.

Documentation

TeleAuth (GAMA)

TeleWrap

TeleRun

Publications

Lathers, A., et al., (2006) Enabling Parallel Scientific Applications with Workflow Tools, Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Challenges of Large Applications in Distributed Environments, p. 55-60 (pdf)

Lin, AW., et al., The Telescience Project: Applications to Middleware Interaction Components (2005) Proceedings of The 18th IEEE International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems, p. 543 - 548 (pdf)

Lin, AW., et al., The Telescience Project: Transparent Grid Access for Scientific Communities (Accepted) Global Grid Forum 14, Science Gateways: Common Community Interfaces to Grid Resources (pdf)

Bhatia, K., et al., Geon/Telescience Security Infrastructure, Dec 2004, SDSC Tech Report, SDSC TR-2004-5 (pdf)

CRBS   •   NCMIR   •   The Telescience Project   •   CCDB

National Institutes
of Health (NIH)

National Center for
Research Resources
(NCRR)

Department of Health
and Human Services
(DHHS)

National Science
Foundation (NSF)

University of California
at San Diego (UCSD)

© 2003 National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research