Multi-core and the Computational Center of Excellence

Regular readers of Dr. Dobb's Journal likely recall the April 2007 article Programming the Cell Processor. It was about, well, programming the multi-core Cell processor -- the processor that is famous for being the CPU(s) inside Sony's PlayStation3.

At this point it's worth noting that the authors of the article -- Daniele Paolo Scarpazza, Oreste Villa, and Fabrizio Petrini -- are affiliated with the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL). But it is becoming clear to me that they do more than fool around with PlayStation3s and write articles for Dr. Dobb's. Not that I have any inside scoop, but my guess is that they have something to do with the new Computational Center of Excellence that PNNL and Mercury Computer Systems have cooked up. The Center will utilitze contributions from each partner, including hardware, software tools, and middleware, newly developed algorithms, and dedicated personnel.

"We’re excited to be working with PNNL, and about the possibilities of applying multicore computing technology to enable the development of economically viable computing solutions to previously intractable problems," said Jay Bertelli, of Mercury Computer Systems. "Early results from our collaboration show that, together, we can analyze streaming data in real time, which has been a critical challenge for data-intensive computing. Our goal is to open the door for new applications."

In the areas of defense and security, the computing power could be used on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to partially analyze incoming data onboard. Equipment on such platforms needs to be minimal in size, weight, and power. Multicore processors consume relatively low amounts of power while processing complex and large amounts of information. With the right software, they potentially provide the ideal fit for computationally intensive applications. Multicore processing could also improve the efficiency of cyber security for large computer networks. For example, rather than having a system that collects millions of pieces of information and then sends it to a central location for processing, the analysis could be done at a sensor that acquires or monitors the data. In the past, the processing speed needed to analyze the mountains of security data that today’s technology generates has not been available in a cost-effective suite of hardware. With more power in a compact form, a laptop-size supercomputer could become a reality for surveillance in multiple locations enabled by portable, real-time processing.

Mercury and PNNL intend to expand membership in the Center of Excellence to investigate computer technologies that include combinations of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), multicores such as the Cell processor, GPUs, analog-to-digital converters, and software tools required for high-productivity development.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 04:53 PM  Permalink