Enhancing the performance of a BSP model-based parallel volume renderer with a profile visualiser

Volume rendering is computation intensive and can benefit from the combined processing power of a workstation cluster. Carefully balancing the workload among all workstations in the cluster is critical in achieving high efficiency in parallel volume rendering. We describe how the load balance of a BSP model-based parallel volume render program can be improved substantially using a profile visualiser. The profile visualiser distinguishes between the two types of load imbalance: those caused by the poor design of the parallel volume renderer and those caused by the sharing of the workstations by the other users. This information allows us to concentrate on improving the performance of the parallel program by designing a better load balance strategy for the parallel volume render.