Researchers develop supercomputer prototype 100 times faster than desktop
By Ruben Francia
A prototype of a high-speed computer capable of running 100 times faster than a current desktop has been developed by researchers from the University of Maryland’s A James Clark School of Engineering.
The speed breakthrough is based on parallel processing technology, which allows the computer to perform several tasks simultaneously.
The prototype has a special controller that allows the 64 parallel processors mounted on a circuit board to work together and makes programming practical and simple for software developers.
For years, parallel processing on a massive scale has been a challenge to many researchers, not because of numerous interconnecting chips, but more because of programming complexities. However, Uzi Vishkin, a professor in the Clark School’s electrical and computer engineering department, and his colleagues found a way to reduced programming complexity by developing single chip parallel processing technology.
“The single-chip supercomputer prototype built by Vishkin’s group uses rich algorithmic theory to address the practical problem of building an easy-to-program multicore computer,” Charles E. Leiserson, Professor of computer science and engineering at MIT said. The chip unites the theory of yesterday with the reality of today, he added.
The prototype device uses a standard computer clock speed, the fundamental rate at which a computer performs operations.
To date, clock speed improvement has more-or-less followed Moore’s Law, which states that the numbers of transistors on integrated circuits in computers will double every 18 to 24 months. With this development, the Moore’s Law doesn’t seem to apply.
Vishkin claims that the future devices would include 1,000 processors on a chip the size of a finger nail.
Vishkin and his team are now demonstrating their technology. They are also providing access to the prototype to students at Montgomery Blair High School in Montgomery County, Md.
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