SILICON GRAPHICS (SGI) has begun shipments of its Onyx InfiniteReality "visualisation supercomputer", intended to be a direct rival to high-performance simulator image generators produced by Evans & Sutherland and Lockheed Martin.

Initial simulation applications of the InfiniteReality include Hughes Training's contract to build two Lockheed Martin F-16 unit-level trainers for Denmark. Saab will use the system in a JAS39 Gripen development simulator.

SGI says that InfiniteReality systems are up to 100 times faster than the Onyx RealityEngine2 machines, which they supersede. Hughes is using RealityEngine2s for host computing and image generation in F-16 and F-15 unit training-devices for the US Air Force and has proposed upgrading to the InfiniteReality, to improve performance and reduce cost.

The new system, can generate more than 10 million polygons/s, and display textured, anti-aliased images at a rate exceeding 800 million pixels/s. The InfiniteReality is available with between two and 24 MIPS R10000 processors, proving a host computing capability, exceeding 9 billion operations/s. A two-processor Onyx InfiniteReality 10000 begins at under $209,000, SGI says, and provides two high-resolution display channels.

Features of other high-performance image generators introduced on the new system include geo-specific texturing, which enables satellite imagery to be combined with digital terrain-elevation data. Weather effects, distortion correction for dome displays, and continuous terrain generation, are also supported.

The Mountain View, California based company says that Electronic Image Systems will develop a calligraphic-lightpoint circuit board for the InfiniteReality. This will enable the system, to meet commercial flight-simulation certification requirements, calling for realistic airport lighting, SGI says. The board will support three display channels at up to 8,000 calligraphic light points/channel. Deliveries will begin in May.

Configurations are available with R10000 or earlier R4400 processors, with one to three InfiniteReality or RealityEngine2 graphics subsystems. A single-processor workstation version is offered, beginning at $125,000.

Source: Flight International