Impact of Disruptive Technologies on High-Performance Computing in Next Decade

This proposal is derived from the on-going roadmapping effort within the EC CSA Eurolab-4-HPC. The roadmap itself targets a long-term roadmap (2022-2030) for High-Performance Computing (HPC). Because of the long-term perspective and its speculative nature, we started with an assessment of future computing technologies that could influence HPC hardware and software. This report is available in its intermediate version of April 2016. The proposal on research topics is derived from the report and discussions within the roadmapping crew.

The big picture: There is an ever growing need of current and new applications for high performance in supercomputers, but also for mid-level and embedded computing. Because of the foreseeable end of CMOS scaling, new technologies are under development, as e.g. die stacking and 3D chip technologies, Non-volatile Memory (NVM) technologies, Photonics, Resistive Computing, Neuromorphic Computing, Quantum Computing, Nanotubes, Graphene, and Diamond Transistors. Some of these technologies are still very speculative and it is hard to predict which ones will prevail. The technologies will strongly impact the hardware and software of future high-performance computing systems, in particular the processor logic itself, the (deeper) memory hierarchy, and new heterogeneous accelerators. This will significantly increase software complexity, increasing the need for compiler, run-time and tool intelligence driven by appropriate programming models. An assessment of the technologies and its potential impact is described in the “Report on Disruptive Technologies for Years 2020-2030”, see link below.

The work needed: As new technologies require major changes across the stack, a vertical funding approach is needed, from applications and software systems through to new hardware architectures and potentially down to the enabling technologies. We see HP Lab’s memory-driven computing architecture “The Machine” as an exemplary project that proposes a low-latency NVM (Non-Volatile Memory) based memory connected by photonics to processor cores. Projects could be based on multiple new technologies and similarly explore hardware and software structures and potential applications. Required research will be interdisciplinary. Stakeholders will come from academic and industrial research.

The opportunity: The opportunity may be development of competitive new hardware/software technologies based on upcoming new technologies to advantageous position European industry for the future. Target areas could be High-Performance Computing and Embedded High-Performance devices. The drawback could be that the chosen base technology may not be prevailing but be replaced by a different technology. For this reason, efforts should be made to ensure that aspects of the developed hardware architectures, system architectures and software systems could also be applied to alternative prevailing technologies. For instance, several NVM technologies will bring up new memory devices that are several magnitudes faster than current Flash technology and the developed system structures may easily be adapted to the specific prevailing technologies, even if the project has chosen a different NVM technology as basis.

For more information see the “Report on Disruptive Technologies for Years 2020-2030”,

https://www.informatik.uni-augsburg.de/en/chairs/sik/research/running/el...