Linking Scientific Instruments and HPC: Patterns, Technologies, Experiences

Abstract: Powerful detectors at modern experimental facilities routinely collect data at multiple GB/s. Online analysis methods are needed to enable the collection of only interesting subsets of such massive data streams, such as by explicitly discarding some data elements or by directing instruments to relevant areas of experimental space. Such online analyses require methods for configuring and running high-performance distributed computing pipelines--what we call flows--linking instruments, HPC (e.g., for analysis, simulation, AI model training), edge computing (for analysis), data stores, metadata catalogs, and high-speed networks. In this article, we review common patterns associated with such flows and describe methods for instantiating those patterns. We also present experiences with the application of these methods to the processing of data from five different scientific instruments, each of which engages HPC resources for data inversion, machine learning model training, or other purposes. We also discuss implications of these new methods for operators and users of scientific facilities.