In June, Fugaku, developed by the Riken Center for Computational Science and Fujitsu, won the title of the world's fastest supercomputer. Now, researchers at the University of Regensburg in Germany will discover the origins of the universe with the help of a new supercomputer based on Fugaku architecture.
At the base of the QPACE4 project (QCD Parallel Computing Engine 4) is the PRIMEHPC FX700 supercomputer that shares the same Fujitsu A64FX processor with Fugaku, based on ARM's processor architecture.
Researchers at the University of Regensburg will use the PRIMEHPC FX700 to explore quantum chromodynamics. The objective is to better understand the fundamental particles, including the internal structure of the proto, and to determine the state of the universe after the Big Bang. The supercomputer will also be used by the German university for research in the field of bioinformatics, focusing on the fields of cancer and immunology.
Fujitsu explains in a statement that the A64FX processor incorporates Scalable Vector Extensions that accelerate complex calculations, allowing the same mathematical operation to be carried out in parallel with large amounts of data.
The processor is associated with a High Bandwidth Memory that provides a balanced ratio of computing power, memory bandwidth and network, avoiding performance limitations.
Remember that the Fugaku has a capacity of 415 petaflops, managing to be 2.8 times faster than the Summit, the system developed by IBM. Altogether, the supercomputer took about six years to be built, with the costs exceeding one billion dollars.
Fugoku is also being used by scientists to help identify a treatment for COVID-19, similar to what happens in the European Union, with the Exscalate4CoV project, and in the United States with the COVID-19 High Performance Computing Consortium.