CENTER FOR COMPUTATION & TECHNOLOGY

Tiger Weekly By Brian Fontenot The CCT, Center for Computation and Technology at LSU, recently hired a computer researcher from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His name is Thomas Sterling, and he accepted a professorship in the LSU Computer Science Department. His research deals with making better, faster computers. He started and led the Beowulf project in late 1993 at NASA. This project led to the development of high-end computers by networking off-the-shelf PCs. This was revolutionary. It allowed the creation of cost-effective, very powerful supercomputers, without the need to pay exceptional costs for custom designed supercomputers. To this day, the technology is still in use. Supercomputers using this technology dominate the list of the top 500 supercomputers in the world and are designated as Beowulf-class clusters. LSU's own supercomputer, SuperMike, uses this technology. Presently, Sterling is researching a new type of computer architecture, "MIND" architecture. "MIND" stands for Memory, Intelligence, and Network Device. Sterling believes the development of computer technology has been stunted by the success of his own Beowulf project. Simply, computer processors don't need to be complex to be powerful. He believes simpler architecture would allow easier cluster processing, which would mean even faster and more cost-effective computers than we have now. This new way of looking at processor design could very well lead to the next generation of computers. Many people have heard rumors of the Playstation 3's "CELL" processor. This processor utilizes the same kind of "high-density" architecture Sterling is researching with "MIND." Instead of having one massive processor, you have a grid of several smaller and less complex processors, which are able to work together in parallel. The Playstation 3, for example, is said to have 9 processors per chip. IBM's Blue Gene/L supercomputer uses a similar multicore architecture technology and is believed to be the fastest general-purpose computer in the world. The CCT is an interdisciplinary research environment and the Louisiana Legislature's Information Technology Initiative funds the center in an effort to promote progress in both cutting-edge and revolutionary technology in industry and academia.