Major European suppliers of high performance computing (HPC) technologies are to combine forces to create a European technology platform (ETP).
Those taking part in the initiative are Allinea, ARM, Bull, Caps Entreprise, Eurotech, ParTec, STMicroelectronics and Xyratex. The companies claim association with the heavyweight BSC, CEA, CINECA, Fraunhofer, Forschungszentrum Juelich and LRZ HPC research centres.
The objective of the ETP is to define Europe’s research priorities to develop European technology in all segments of the HPC supply chain, say the partners, who add that it will “strengthen European competitiveness in HPC, a key capability for future research and innovation”.
The management of the extreme parallelism experienced in HPC architectures and the reduction of power consumption will be two key areas the programme will focus on.
As part of the initiative, the current consortium are setting up an organisation that will be open to any businesses, groups or individuals who have R&D activities in any aspect of HPC located in Europe. A research plan will also be presented to the European Commission to seek further funding.
China is similarly planning more supercomputers with homegrown chips in order to meet government demands, it was reported this week. Last month, China’s National Supercomputer Center in Jinan unveiled the Sunway BlueLight, the country’s first supercomputer based entirely on domestically-developed microprocessors.