World's fastest supercomputer delivers immediate results

 

Although Fugaku is scheduled to be fully operational in fiscal 2021, it has already yielded tangible results in such research as predicting how microscopic droplets containing the novel coronavirus spread as a result of coughs.

With about 90% of its computational resources in operation, Fugaku became the world's fastest supercomputer in June, becoming the first Japanese supercomputer to take that spot in 8½ years.

The previous Japanese supercomputer to be ranked No. 1 globally was its predecessor, the K supercomputer.

In the latest rankings, Fugaku dominated four categories for the second consecutive time, using all its about 160,000 central processing units installed in a total of 432 racks.

Fugaku performed 442 quadrillion computations per second, up from 415 quadrillion in June. This far surpassed other supercomputers, including the one ranked No. 2.

Satoshi Matsuoka, director of the Riken Center for Computational Science, who was in charge of Fugaku's development, said, "By balancing ease of use and high performance, it has achieved a level no other supercomputer can realize."

Although Fugaku is still making adjustments for full implementation, it has been gradually used since April.

It has drawn the most attention for its prediction of how microscopic droplets containing the novel coronavirus spread in such familiar settings as offices, restaurants and classrooms.

How droplets containing the virus spread from a cough or during conversation in various scenarios can be computed by changing the positioning of the people and their environment. The effectiveness of wearing masks, face shields and the like will also be examined. Although such tasks require the processing of a huge amount of data, Fugaku can handle it with no difficulty.

This research has been conducted since May by Makoto Tsubokura, a professor at Kobe University who also serves as a leader of a Riken team. The team had initially planned to precisely reproduce how gasoline would be sprayed inside the pistons of an automobile engine.

At one time, a team member who was standing by at home due to the spread of the coronavirus suggested that the mechanism of the gasoline spraying and that of droplets spreading would likely be the same. This led to joint research involving experts in other fields with whom the team had never interacted before, such as researchers in infectious disease and technicians from a construction company and a manufacturer of air-conditioning equipment.

When researching a new subject, it usually takes a long time for a program to be devised and a supercomputer put into operation. However, Fugaku is designed so that PC software or smartphone apps that people are familiar with can be used as they are. As a result, the team said it was able to start the relevant computations quickly.

Tsubokura said: "With the K computer, it would have taken at least a year, including preparations. The ease of use and high performance of Fugaku resulted in prompt action."

A team of researchers led by Satoru Miyano, director of M&D Data Science Center of Tokyo Medical and Dental University, has begun using Fugaku to analyze the functions of genes in a cancer cell. Cancer worsens as genes mutate repeatedly and in a complex matter. A vast amount of data must be input for computation.

Miyano said, "Ten years ago, it took at least three months to analyze the relevant data even when using the supercomputer at the University of Tokyo at full capacity. With Fugaku, it's done within a few hours, and using only part of its computing capability. If this level of computation can be done ordinarily, ideas will surely be generated that could not have been conceived of before." 

Miyano will also start research using Fugaku on whether there is any genetic factor behind the development of serious cases of covid-19, the infectious disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Fugaku can be operated via remote control, so it can be used from anywhere. With high-speed internet connections used for academic purposes, for instance, Fugaku can be operated even from someone's home.

A team led by Yasushi Okuno, a professor at Kyoto University, has successfully identified candidate drugs for treating covid-19, out of more than 2,000 existing drugs. Okuno has obtained the results almost completely via remote control from his home. 

"Amid the spread of infections, the computations were done without my having to go to the university. Its operation via remote control is not that difficult. It's actually rather easy."

The TOP500 project, which ranks the performance of supercomputers developed by countries around the world, started in 1993. The rankings are announced twice a year. 

The countries that developed the world's top five supercomputers in terms of computing speed in the latest rankings were developed by Japan, the United States (with three) and China.

There was a period when the computer systems developed by Japan and by the United States competed for the top spot, but those developed by China have gradually advanced to occupy a superior position. Since June 2010, computer systems developed by China have been atop the list 11 times, those developed by the United States 7 times and Japanese systems four times (twice by the K and twice by Fugaku.)

The pace of their progress can be seen when looking at progress in the computing speed of these top-ranking supercomputers. Japan's Earth Simulator supercomputer system, which was named the world's fastest computer five times in a row from 2002 to 2004, performed about 35 trillion computations per second. That was amazingly fast back then, but the 440 quadrillion computations per second performed by Fugaku this time is about 10,000 times faster.

The difference can be likened to a turtle that moves 50 meters in an hour and a linear motor car that travels 500 kph.

The number of Fugaku CPUs that can be used, and for how long, is still limited. But it has already been used in over 100 cases of research. In addition to its use in medical fields, such as research on the novel coronavirus and cancer, it is also being utilized in weather forecasting and engineering.

Once Fugaku is put into full operation in fiscal 2021, it is expected to be made available around-the-clock throughout the year, except during maintenance checks. K was made available mostly free of charge, as long as it was to be used for research purposes. 

Although fees for using Fugaku have yet to be decided, it is expected to be handled in a similar way. The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry and other entities will invite research proposals involving Fugaku and select users.

As next-generation computers that could be far faster than supercomputers, quantum computers are considered promising. Supercomputer systems are also indispensable for developing next-generation computers.

Once a quantum computer is realized, there is a possibility that even such complex cryptograms as crypto assets, which are deemed impossible to be deciphered by present technologies, could be decoded instantly.

Yoshitoshi Kunieda, a professor at Ritsumeikan University and scholar of information engineering, said: "The exchange and handling of information, including that related to crypto assets, will be directly linked to global strategies. In this sense, the development of supercomputer systems has become ever more crucial."