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Computing

US unveils first supercomputer built using Arm chips

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Arm-based supercomputer prototype to be deployed at Sandia National Laboratories by Department of Energy

Microprocessors designed by Arm are ubiquitous in automobile electronics, cellphones, and other embedded applications, but until recently they have not provided the performance necessary to make them practical for high-performance computing.

Astra, one of the first supercomputers to use processors based on the Arm architecture in a large-scale high-performance computing platform, is expected to be deployed in late summer at Sandia National Laboratories.

The US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration says that Astra, the first of a potential series of advanced architecture prototype platforms, will be deployed as part of the Vanguard program.  [Read more…] about US unveils first supercomputer built using Arm chips

Fujitsu supercomputer ranked in global top 5

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Fujitsu has announced that its AI Bridging Cloud Infrastructure (ABCI) system has been ranked fifth in the world, and first in Japan, in the TOP500 international performance ranking of supercomputers.

ABCI has also taken eighth place in the world in Green500, which ranks outstanding energy saving performance.

Fujitsu developed ABCI, Japan’s fastest open AI infrastructure featuring a large-scale, power-saving cloud platform geared toward AI processing, based on a tender issued by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).

[Read more…] about Fujitsu supercomputer ranked in global top 5

Top Swiss brain doctors install HPE supercomputer to help them read people’s minds

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One of Switzerland’s top universities has selected the Hewlett Packard Enterprise supercomputing system for its work in the area of neuroscience, which means looking inside brains. 

Head doctors at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne will initially be using HPE’s new supercomputer for simulation-based research, analysis, and visualization, to advance the understanding of what they describe as the “mammalian brain”.

But the bonce specialists could easily scale up the system to analyze human brains and eavesdrop on people’s thoughts and eventually be used to control their actions, which has been shown to be the ambition of each and every megalomaniacal mad scientist in science fiction history.  [Read more…] about Top Swiss brain doctors install HPE supercomputer to help them read people’s minds

America’s Summit named world’s fastest supercomputer

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The US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is once again officially home to the fastest supercomputer in the world, according to the Top500 List, a semiannual ranking of the world’s fastest computing systems.

The recently launched Summit supercomputer was announced as number one at the ISC High Performance conference in Frankfurt, Germany. The designation recognizes the IBM-built system as the science community’s most powerful computational tool for solving problems in energy, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and other domains.

Summit is the third ORNL system to be ranked number one by Top500, following in the footsteps of the Jaguar and Titan supercomputers. Jaguar ranked as the world’s fastest system in November 2009 and June 2010, while Titan held the title in November 2012.  [Read more…] about America’s Summit named world’s fastest supercomputer

Opening up to women in artificial intelligence

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A look ahead to the Re-Work Women in AI Reception in New York, in September

Interest in artificial intelligence and its numerous branches – the most well known of which are machine learning and deep learning – has never been more intense than it is today. 

This is probably because whereas in the past the fascination around AI did not always materialize in actual technological innovations because of the limited resources available at the time, now, anyone who has the knowledge and skills in the field of AI can find many powerful tools that they can use to develop the next “killer app”.

For example, like many companies, Amazon offers a huge stack of AI software tools and a massive, global hardware infrastructure on which to run memory- and processor-hungry AI applications to anyone who has a computer and an internet connection – and, of course, for what we consider to be a relatively small usage fee considering the colossal power on offer at your fingertips.  [Read more…] about Opening up to women in artificial intelligence

Samsung sets out roadmap towards 3-nanometer silicon manufacturing

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Samsung Electronics has set out its roadmap towards 3-nanometer silicon-based technology manufacturing – things like microprocessors. 

As computer chips get smaller, it’s getting increasingly difficult to control the signals that move around on the chip. If the chip is too small, the electrons can jump from one track to another. That is just one possible problem.

Some people say that silicon manufacturers have reached the limit and chips cannot be made any smaller.  [Read more…] about Samsung sets out roadmap towards 3-nanometer silicon manufacturing

Fujitsu completes ‘post-K supercomputer’ prototype and begins trials

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Fujitsu and Riken say their the joint development of the successor to the K supercomputer – one of the fastest in the world – is complete and is beginning trials.

The so-called “post-K” is a supercomputer that the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has chosen as a successor to the K computer, is moving forward, with the goal of beginning full operations around 2021.

Fujitsu has now completed the prototype central processing unit chip that will serve as the core of post-K, commencing functionality field trials.  [Read more…] about Fujitsu completes ‘post-K supercomputer’ prototype and begins trials

Mitsubishi launches new devices to visualise production sites

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Mitsubishi Electric Automation says it is making it easy for small- to medium-sized factories to realise the benefits of an Andon system, with the introduction of iQ Monozukuri Andon.

The simple, cost-effective Andon package allows visualisation of production sites using Mitsubishi Electric’s GOT2000 graphic operation terminal and a web browser.

iQ Monozukuri Andon offers pre-engineered project data and software to quickly and easily implement and operate an Andon system, claims the firm.

[Read more…] about Mitsubishi launches new devices to visualise production sites

UMC takes 100 per cent ownership of Fujitsu’s semiconductor business unit

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United Microelectronics Corporation has agreed to acquire all of the shares of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor, a 300mm wafer foundry joint venture between both companies.

United Microelectronics Corporation is said to be the first semiconductor company established in Taiwan back in 1980.

In addition to the 15.9 per cent of MIFS shares currently owned by UMC, Fujitsu Semiconductor will transfer the remaining 84.1 per cent of its shares in MIFS to UMC, making MIFS a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Taiwan-based foundry.  [Read more…] about UMC takes 100 per cent ownership of Fujitsu’s semiconductor business unit

Lenovo ‘largest supplier’ of components to world’s fastest supercomputers

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Lenovo says it is now the world’s largest supplier of supercomputing parts to the Top500, which refer to a list of 500 of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. 

Lenovo Data Center Group was recognised as the leading supplier at the recent International Supercomputing Conference, in Frankfurt, as measured by the number of systems ranked on the Top500 list.

No fewer than 117 of the 500 most powerful supercomputers included in the Top500 are Lenovo installations, meaning nearly one out of every four systems (23.4 percent) on the prestigious list is a Lenovo solution.  [Read more…] about Lenovo ‘largest supplier’ of components to world’s fastest supercomputers