This week, ranking supercomputer “International TOP500 Organization” (hereinafter referred to as the TOP500) released its latest global Top 500 Supercomputer list. Located in the Tianjin Binhai New Area of China, “Tian One” two systems (Tian-1A) supercomputer 2566000000000000 times per second measured operation speed tops the list. This is the day from outside Europe and the United States supercomputer top spot debut.
The news caused widespread concern in the international community, the Western major media and computer experts have commented. Obama recently told a news conference at the “Milky Way One” won an example of the United States expressed the need to strengthen science and technology investment.
Why is this news will cause such a response? “Milky One,” Why the computational speed can in just one year jumped from fifth to first in the world? “Milky One” for the national economy in the end what is the meaning of life? On these issues, the reporter interviewed from the National Defense University’s “Milky One,” research team.
Rose from the fifth year the world’s first
Running into the “Milky Way One” two system room, 140 1.45 meters wide and 1.2 meters deep and 2 meters high gray cabinets neat array, magnificent. The end of October last year, with the reporter saw in Changsha, a systems, each cabinet is put a layer of “glass coat.” The engine room of a lot of noise, no air conditioning whirring of the wind sent.
Changes in the appearance of innovation from within. “‘Milky Way One’ from a system upgrade for the second phase of the system, not a simple expansion of the scale, but to achieve a series of major technology upgrading and integrated optimization.” “Milky Way One” Project Office director Li Nan researcher told reporters.
The same with ordinary computers, speed is a measure of a supercomputer core parameters, directly reflects the performance of supercomputers. In the just-released TOP500 list, the “Milky Way One” faster than the second peak of the U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s “Jaguar” of nearly 1,000 trillion times faster. Compared with a system, “Milky Way One” two systems of peak computing speed of 4,700 trillion, increased 2.89 times and 3.55 times faster sustained.
One of these two systems thanks to the Tianhe international leader in the use of heterogeneous integration architecture. “We will use the CPU and GPU bound, greatly reducing the” Milky Way One “production costs.” Nan said, “the cost of the GPU, CPU is only equivalent to 1 / 6, if all use the CPU, ‘Milky Way One’ is Development of construction costs from the current 6 billion yuan to 20 billion. ”
The architecture has also been recognized by the world’s super-computer counterparts. Authoritative experts in the field, the U.S. Department Bierdaili Stanford University computer professor commented: “China’s Tian computer CPU and GPU to the integration of structure, of the future development trend of high-performance computers. As the scale of the continuous development of computer This structure, though not the only solution, but appears to be the best. ”
Energy consumption of supercomputers has been troubled by problems experts. Western scholars had predicted: If you can not solve the energy problem, then the future needs and nuclear power supercomputer built together.
Heterogeneous integration architecture using the “Milky Way One” clever solution to this problem. “Milky One” 4040 degrees per hour, power consumption, full load operation of the total energy consumption will be 4.04 MW. If the “Milky Way One” all use CPU instead of GPU, running at full capacity of its total energy consumption will increase to 12 MW, Li Nan said, “saved the equivalent of 8 MW of electricity consumption of 5,000 families a year . ”
To save electricity, reduce noise, “Milky One,” Phase transformation of the original cooling system means that in the installation of a glass case outside of each cabinet, so that the original exchange in the engine room air into the cabinet internal exchange, separation of the cabinet and the room, significantly reducing power consumption.
“Milky One,” Green also received international recognition. Determined according to international authorities, “Milky Way One” is second only to the United States, IBM Blue Gene system, the world’s highest energy-efficient supercomputer.
After the upgrade the “Milky Way One” two systems, independent technical content also increased significantly. ”
As a supercomputer at the heart of Milky Way One of the first part of the central processor independently developed by the National Defense Science, “the FT -1000″ chip. Although its only a small part of total CPU, but the parallel system on chip technology has reached the international advanced level.
In addition, many users of supercomputers for a number of large enterprises, data and results of operations is the core secrets, so the safety evaluation of a supercomputer is an important indicator.
“Milky One” independently developed by the National Defense Science, currently the highest level of security, “Kirin operating system.” Users can customize the operating system, the work of their own private space, “Milky Way One” project director designer Lu Yutong researcher said, “is like hiring a Swiss bank safe, as only one set of keys and key, and understanding the user their own hands, other users including system administrators do not have permission to view. ”
Supercomputer about human destiny
With the rapid development of human society, a series about the fate of countries and even the thorny problem of all mankind comes.
If human beings can become the current climate forecasting the weather, Indonesia Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina are likely to be predictable, extreme weather disasters, the loss of human possibility to a minimum. If you can predict earthquakes, may not appear the earthquake tragedy in the death of tens of thousands of people. If you can find the root causes of global warming, many countries will be flooded to avoid the fate. If you can a new drug development time shortened by a few decades, will alleviate the suffering of countless patients, well-being of all mankind.
The development of supercomputers to solve these “seemingly impossible to solve” the problem of bringing a ray of hope. It can be used to replace the traditional calculation of a large number of confirmatory experiments, preliminary research has greatly save time and reduce upfront investment costs. It can be said of its strategic importance for national development. Therefore, States are very concerned about the development of supercomputers, and in this area in a fierce battle.
The “Milky Way One” to become the world’s fastest computer on the significance of more than the event itself.
Over the years, the Western world’s position on the TOP500 list are very sensitive. In 2002, the United States ranking supercomputers in the world lost the first position, the Japanese come out on top. Since then, the United States accelerated the pace of investment and development, and remain in first after 2004.
In the just-released TOP500 list, the United States holds 275 seats, 24 seats in the British possession, possession of 26 seats in France, Germany holds 26 seats, holds 26 seats in Japan, Russia holds 11 seats. The Chinese hold 41 seats, a year ago, the figure is 24.
“This is an interesting change,” University of Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre, Professor Arthur Trudeau in an interview recently, said, “For many years the United States as the world’s fastest supercomputer, the proud, but Now China has become the owner of this honor. “The American computer designer Wola Shi pointed out that in the high-tech fields, there may be just the first of any development process in the moment.
Seen intense competition between countries led directly to the rapid development of supercomputers, which will continue in the future development trend.
Will provide supercomputing services to the world
Constant pursuit of new speed record for the purpose of development is not a supercomputer, the ultimate goal is to service and social life of scientific research practice areas, and ultimately into productive forces. If you can not provide customers with efficient service, then the state’s economy for the super-computer and human input, it will become a huge waste. Based on this understanding, May 2009, the National Science and Technology approved the establishment of national supercomputing center in Tianjin.
Liu Xiaoqian, deputy director of the center, told reporters that since December last year, settled in Tianjin Binhai New Area, the “Milky Way One” had a 11-month user trial, completed the computer and the user’s initial run.
So far, the “Milky One” has been in oil exploration, high-end equipment development, bio-medicine, animation design, new energy, new materials, engineering design and simulation, weather forecasting, remote sensing data processing, application areas such as financial risk analysis, has 20 units to provide the service multiple users.
However, the application of supercomputers in China is still in its infancy, there are many in the relationship between institutional mechanisms need to be straightened out.
Nan said, “‘Milky Way One’ is ‘Made in China’ into ‘Chinese Design’ process is an important infrastructure.” Milky One “in the future will be mainly in the five platforms start work: for high-end manufacturing industry, product design, bio-medical information processing, cultural and creative design, oil exploration data processing and large scale simulation projects.
Li Nan told reporters, “Milky Way One” There are two critical tasks: the first is to make a major strategic new industry of Tianjin to enjoy the super-computing services, a big rocket, big air, oil exploration and other leading industry boosters. Second, efforts to “Milky One,” created by key technology in the Binhai New Area to form derivative products, and thus play a greater radiation-related industries and leading role.
Nan also revealed that since the “Milky Way One” Since the birth of users have expressed a number of international cooperation. However, due to various reasons related to the business has not yet started. “‘Milky Way One’ is of China, also of the world.” Nan said that in the future, “Milky Way One” will be global, for the world to provide high-performance, high-security super-computing services.
Super computer is the most powerful computer, fastest, largest class of storage computers, thousands of times to follow laws of their development, that will improve the performance every 10 years, 1,000 times. The emergence and development of the fundamental driving force in all areas of social and economic life of the great demand.
