China aims to build ‘supercomputer internet’ to solve industry challenges
- Tech companies and researchers gather to discuss how to create network of extremely powerful computers for users to access via browser-like platform
- It could benefit weather research, as well as fields such as aerospace, medicine, finance and artificial intelligence
The supercomputer internet is a proposed network of connected supercomputers that allows users to access multiple machines on one browser-like platform.
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A group of 15 national and university supercomputing centres intend to join the network, which would allow advanced computing centres throughout China to work together to solve some of the most challenging problems in industry.
The benefits of better computing would extend to many fields, from aerospace and medicine to weather research and finance.
Drug discovery, for instance, requires the ability to quickly test thousands of possible molecules for use against a specific disease or condition. By linking supercomputers, researchers can simulate the interactions of each drug candidate more efficiently and accurately.
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To build the network, scientists must overcome many technical problems to connect computing centres far away from each other, allowing them to collaborate and share resources.
Attendees discussed issues related to the unequal distribution of resources, differing technology standards, and challenges in developing and promoting new software.
China has experienced steady growth in computing power in recent years.
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Li Guojie, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at the meeting that China’s supercomputers were among the best in the world but still lagged behind in their industrial applications compared with those of other countries.
To make up for that, China should build an efficient supercomputer internet so companies and researchers can easily access supercomputing services, he added.
“The idea behind the supercomputer internet is similar to the electrical grid, which combines different sources of electricity to provide power for various users,” wrote Yang Guangwen, director of the National Supercomputing Wuxi Center, in a Communist Party journal in January.
According to Yang, there are many challenges in technology, talent and the industrial environment that must be overcome to create the supercomputer internet, including building high-speed internet networks and an operation platform.
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Leading Chinese tech company Huawei is already involved in a similar project focused on “intensive computing” in the eastern city of Jinan.
Zhao Shuncun, Huawei’s chief supercomputing architect, said in July that the supercomputer internet would require integration of different operating platforms, and Huawei was well positioned to design systems to do that.
By the end of 2025, the initiative aims to have a well-rounded system in place to support innovation, engineering breakthroughs, economic growth and improvements in daily life.
