Reinventing High Performance Computing: Challenges and Opportunities (2203.02544v1)

Abstract: The world of computing is in rapid transition, now dominated by a world of smartphones and cloud services, with profound implications for the future of advanced scientific computing. Simply put, high-performance computing (HPC) is at an important inflection point. For the last 60 years, the world's fastest supercomputers were almost exclusively produced in the United States on behalf of scientific research in the national laboratories. Change is now in the wind. While costs now stretch the limits of U.S. government funding for advanced computing, Japan and China are now leaders in the bespoke HPC systems funded by government mandates. Meanwhile, the global semiconductor shortage and political battles surrounding fabrication facilities affect everyone. However, another, perhaps even deeper, fundamental change has occurred. The major cloud vendors have invested in global networks of massive scale systems that dwarf today's HPC systems. Driven by the computing demands of AI, these cloud systems are increasingly built using custom semiconductors, reducing the financial leverage of traditional computing vendors. These cloud systems are now breaking barriers in game playing and computer vision, reshaping how we think about the nature of scientific computation. Building the next generation of leading edge HPC systems will require rethinking many fundamentals and historical approaches by embracing end-to-end co-design; custom hardware configurations and packaging; large-scale prototyping, as was common thirty years ago; and collaborative partnerships with the dominant computing ecosystem companies, smartphone, and cloud computing vendors.

• The paper presents the main finding that economic shifts and slowing semiconductor advances necessitate rethinking HPC design and funding models.
• It demonstrates a co-design methodology that integrates hardware and software innovation to tailor systems for specialized applications.
• The study highlights the integration of AI and cloud systems within HPC, showcasing transformative potential through advanced supercomputing examples.

High-Performance Computing at a Crossroads: Rethinking Strategies and Ecosystems

The paper "Reinventing High Performance Computing: Challenges and Opportunities" scrutinizes the evolving landscape of high-performance computing (HPC) in light of transformative shifts in technology and industry. As the role of computing continues to expand within society, the paper identifies several key inflection points that are shaping the future trajectory of HPC. The convergence of economic pressures, technological innovation, and geopolitical dynamics demands a reevaluation of traditional approaches to designing, funding, and leveraging HPC systems.

Economic and Technological Drives

Central to the discussion is the economic recalibration driven by the ascent of cloud services and smartphones, characterized by the significant scaling advantages of tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Apple. These companies have amassed financial capabilities and technological capacities that far outstrip those of traditional HPC stakeholders such as national laboratories and traditional computer manufacturers. The paper highlights that this shift has created an environment where bespoke systems, such as those developed by Japan's Fugaku supercomputer, co-exist alongside commoditized cloud offerings, benefiting from economies of scale previously unseen.

Meanwhile, slowing advancements in semiconductor miniaturization, in part due to the end of Dennard scaling and the easing of Moore's Law, are pushing the HPC community toward alternative paradigms such as chiplet technologies and specialized, application-driven hardware. This evolution necessitates new models of collaboration between governments, academia, and industry to sustain innovation and maintain competitive advantage in HPC.

Rethinking HPC: Co-Design and Collaboration

A significant narrative in the paper is the adoption of end-to-end co-design, which emphasizes collaboration across the software-hardware interface. Customizing hardware architectures to meet specific application needs is presented as a necessity rather than an option, particularly as companies like AMD and Google lead the way with industry-changing processors and accelerators. To embody this co-design philosophy, the establishment of open standards and interoperability frameworks becomes crucial, fostering an environment where innovation can thrive without constrained silos.

Additionally, prototyping at scale is underscored as vital for experimentation and validation of new computing architectures. The paper suggests reinvigorating prototyping practices reminiscent of the '80s and '90s when academic and government-led projects explored diverse computing concepts, spawning innovations that were later commercialized.

Expanding HPC and AI Integration

The paper also recognizes the expanding domain of HPC applications beyond traditional simulations to include powerful AI workloads. The integration of AI technologies in scientific computing exemplifies a burgeoning fourth paradigm, where data-driven models contribute significantly to scientific discovery. Developments like AlphaFold for protein folding illustrate this shift, where traditional HPC workflows are augmented, and at times, transformed by AI capabilities.

Given these dynamics, the potential for hybrid HPC and cloud systems is highlighted, offering more flexible, scalable computing resources. The adaptability of cloud platforms to meet variable demand effectively supports capacity computing while providing on-demand access to bursts of computing power when needed for complex simulations or analyses.

Implications and Future Directions

In the face of these outlined challenges and opportunities, the paper emphasizes the need for HPC stakeholders to adjust strategies to better align with global technological and economic trends. There is a call for increased governmental investment in research, infrastructure, and talent—recognizing that HPC not only serves mission-critical scientific endeavors but acts as a cornerstone for national and economic security.

Furthermore, the authors argue for a holistic view of HPC as a tool not merely driven by performance metrics but by its ability to address significant societal challenges. This view acknowledges the societal impact of HPC technologies and the ethical considerations surrounding their use.

In summary, "Reinventing High Performance Computing" presents an incisive examination of the crossroads at which HPC currently stands. By contemplating new paradigms of cooperation, innovation, and application, the paper lays out a roadmap for sustaining the evolution and relevancy of HPC in coming decades. Such foresight is crucial as the lines between traditional HPC, AI, and general-purpose computing continue to blur, heralding a future of increased integration and transformative capability.