QPACE
Encyclopedia
QPACE is pursuing the development of a massive parallel, scalable supercomputer
for applications in lattice quantum chromodynamics
(QCD). The machine structure is a three-dimensional torus of identical processing nodes, based on IBM's PowerXCell 8i processors. These nodes are tightly coupled by an Xilinx Virtex-5-based FPGA, application-optimized network processor attached to the PowerXCell 8i processor.
The three Identical QPACE supercomputers at Jülich Research Centre
, University of Regensburg
and University of Wuppertal
are as of November 2009 topping the Green500 list of most energy efficient supercomputers in the world and are at the same time ranking at 110, 111 and 112 place on the Top500
list of most powerful supercomputers.
Each of the QPACE installations comprise 4608 3.2 GHz PowerXCell 8i processors housed in four racks, reaching sustained performance of 43 TFLOPS while drawing 59.49 KW.
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
for applications in lattice quantum chromodynamics
Quantum chromodynamics
In theoretical physics, quantum chromodynamics is a theory of the strong interaction , a fundamental force describing the interactions of the quarks and gluons making up hadrons . It is the study of the SU Yang–Mills theory of color-charged fermions...
(QCD). The machine structure is a three-dimensional torus of identical processing nodes, based on IBM's PowerXCell 8i processors. These nodes are tightly coupled by an Xilinx Virtex-5-based FPGA, application-optimized network processor attached to the PowerXCell 8i processor.
The three Identical QPACE supercomputers at Jülich Research Centre
Jülich Research Centre
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres and is one of the largest interdisciplinary research centres in Europe...
, University of Regensburg
University of Regensburg
The University of Regensburg is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on July 18, 1962 by the Landtag of Bavaria as the fourth full-fledged university in Bavaria...
and University of Wuppertal
University of Wuppertal
The University of Wuppertal is a German scientific institution, located in Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia.The university, the full German name of which is Bergische Universität Wuppertal , was formed in 1972 and is located in the city of Wuppertal, within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia,...
are as of November 2009 topping the Green500 list of most energy efficient supercomputers in the world and are at the same time ranking at 110, 111 and 112 place on the Top500
TOP500
The TOP500 project ranks and details the 500 most powerful known computer systems in the world. The project was started in 1993 and publishes an updated list of the supercomputers twice a year...
list of most powerful supercomputers.
Each of the QPACE installations comprise 4608 3.2 GHz PowerXCell 8i processors housed in four racks, reaching sustained performance of 43 TFLOPS while drawing 59.49 KW.
External links
- Application Note: FPGA to IBM Power Processor Interface Setup
- QPACE: QCD Parallel Computing on the Cell
- High-Performance Computing Applications on Novel Architectures
- The QPACE Project
- Lattice QCD on the Cell BE
- Lattice Hadron Physics LatticeHP
- Computing Systems for Theoretical Physics
- Network Specification and Software Data Structures for the eQPACE Architecture