Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/83317
Processor A PoWerFUL T he humanoid machines of the hit movie "Transformers" are able to reconfigure themselves in the heat of battle either to match the environment as cars, trucks and planes or to morph into destructive, missile-toting robots facing their enemies in the struggle for Earth. While we haven't developed adaptable artificial intelligence capable of waging war, one "transformer" at the University of Florida (UF) can reconfigure its internal architecture for almost any application: a supercomputer named Novo-G that is believed to be the most powerful of its kind. For five years, UF has led a consortium of university and industry partners in the development of Novo-G through the National Science Foundation's Center for High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing (CHREC), headquartered at UF. Alongside scientists from three other universities (Brigham Young, George Washington and Virginia Tech) and 30 industry and government partners in CHREC, UF researchers are working to improve processing capabilities by changing the way computers' internal circuits are arranged for each task, allowing scientists and researchers from all disciplines to crunch data and perform tasks faster than ever before. UF and its CHREC partners developed Novo-G not only to be faster than other computers, but also smaller, cheaper, more powerful and more energy-efficient. "Conventional computers use microprocessors with a fixed structure, limiting the range of their capabilities," said Dr. Alan George, UF professor of electrical and computer engineering, and director of CHREC. Conventional super- computers that use the same rigid structure require massive amounts of energy to perform different tasks, and can take up large rooms and even entire buildings. The internal architecture of a reconfigurable computer like Novo-G can adapt and transform to each task at hand, and totals the size of only two standard refrigerators. The technology makes Novo-G's capabilities endless, from sequencing DNA to analyzing financial data within minutes or hours instead of what could take months or years on a standard computer. However, design challenges still remain, and George hopes to see the technology University of Florida computer researcher HERMAN LAM (left) ) and ALAN GEORGE, founder and director of the NSF CHREC Center, display UF's supercomputer, the Novo-G. mature to a point where changes for an application will be automatic. He also believes all computers will be reconfigurable in one form or another at some point. "Twenty years ago, computers played a pretty narrow role in everyday life. Today computers play a major role almost everywhere. And where they don't, they will soon. We are trying to find better ways to make computers much more sophisticated and adaptive to affect all these areas, not just academia," said George. Currently, Novo-G is expected to be used by scientists with two common issues: a) problems scientists are trying to solve with conventional computers, and b) problems scientists wish they could solve, but do not attempt to do so, knowing the limited capabilities of conventional computers will add years or decades to their research. Though Novo-G's structure doesn't visibly alter the same way that a Transformer would change from a bipedal robot to an F-15 jet, its adjustable technology enables major advances in scientific discovery. florida.HIGH.TECH 2012 43 ERIC ZAMORA/UF NEWS BUREAU NEW