Summary Supercomputers are expected to develop and improve many fields like driverless cars. Photo:fujitsu
(Web Desk) – Japan is building the world’s fastest supercomputer, which is set out to surpass the current number one 93 Petaflop ‘Sunway TaihuLight’ supercomputer in China. The project which is called Al Bridging Cloud Infrastructure (ABCI) has been set out to spend $173 million, in hopes to propel Japan on the top of the global supercomputing race.
According to CNN, the supercomputer is expected to run at a speed of 130 Petaflops, which will enable the system to perform a mind-boggling 130 quadrillion (130 million billion) calculations per second.
ABCI is set out to be completed by April 2018, which will be most powerful supercomputer in the world. The current champion of supercomputers is China’s Sunway TaihuLight.
The Sunway TaihuLight, China s supercomputer ranks number one in the world. Photo: AP
What makes Supercomputer ‘Super’?
The computing system has no mouse or screen, and is vastly different from personal computers; it’s a whole lot bigger and faster.
"The current supercomputer system is one million times faster than your personal computers," explains Satoshi Sekiguchi, a director general at Japan s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
Sekiguchi calculates that it would take 3,000 years for a personal computer to achieve what a supercomputer can do in just one day.Japan’s ABCI supercomputer in terms of size can be comparable to a parking lot with space for 30 to 40 cars.
"The supercomputer that is currently under development would take up about 1,000 square meters of floor space," says Sekiguchi.
What are they used for?
The purpose of super computers is mainly to compute faster and to help Japanese companies in developing and improving driverless cars, robotics and will help in medical diagnostics, explains Sekiguchi.
"A supercomputer is an extremely important tool for accelerating the advancement in such fields," he says.
ABCI’s supersonic speed will also help researchers in Japan to develop advances in artificial intelligence technologies, such as "deep learning."
"The initial design of paper diapers was actually done using a supercomputer," explains Sekiguchi.
"However, mothers continue to use them without knowing that fact."
Japan previously claimed the title of world’s fastest supercomputer for six months. ‘K’ computer remained world’s fastest supercomputer for 6 months in 2011 before it was outperformed by the United States and China.
Future of supercomputers:
Sekiguchi explains that earlier there was a competition of fastest computing devices but now it’s more about what you can do with the computers.
"It is no longer about which computer becomes the best in the world, but rather, creating an environment in which these new applications can be used properly."
