Brice Goglin and Samuel Thibault: HPC mapping experts awarded by the french Académie des sciences
Every November, the french Académie des sciences unveils its prestigious awards. This year, alongside Brice Goglin, the NumPEx member Samuel Thibault have just been awarded the Inria – Académie des sciences – Dassault Systèmes Innovation Prize.
Samuel Thibault is responsible for the runtime part of the Exa-SofT software stack. More specifically, he is in charge of the integration of communications with task scheduling, high-level expression of the division of computational tasks, and fault tolerance. Samuel is also co-leader of the working group Accelerator.
Learn more about his research in the article published by Inria.
Photo credit académie des sciences – Mathieu Baumer
Call for proposals "Numérique pour l’Exascale"
The NumPEx program is launching its first call for projects to support advances in high-performance computing (HPC), high-performance data analysis (HPDA) and artificial intelligence (AI). Our France 2030 research program aims to develop software capable of operating future exascale machines, and to prepare the main scientific and industrial application codes.
This call is structured around three axes:
- Emerging AI methods, algorithms and software for scientific computing and HPC for AI.
- Programming models adapted to accelerated architectures.
- Workflows for scientific data analysis, with the SKA project as a use case.
This call for projects has a budget of 4 million euros. It will fund 1 to 2 projects per axis, for a maximum duration of 48 months.
The amount of funding requested must be a minimum of 500 k€ and a maximum of 1 M€, depending on the theme of the project.
The same project manager can only be responsible for one PEPR project, including targeted projects.
Deadline for applications: April 1, 2025.
2023 Inria annual report: NumPEx, a programme aimed at boosting the capacities of exascale computing
The annual report of the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (Inria), published last June, provides an overview of the research activities and results of its teams and laboratories. Appointed coordinator of the “Numérique logiciel” program agency in 2024, Inria is a key player in French computer science research. Inria works to ensure that France is part of the European dynamic through the research and innovation of its project teams and collaborations with other research organizations.
Inria’s highlights for 2023 include a panel of France 2030 research programs co-piloted by Inria, including NumPEx!
Find out more on page 10 of the 2023 annual report.
2023 – Annual Report Inria (english version)
2023 – Rapport d’activité Inria (french version)
© Guillaume Martel / CEA
NumPEx Highlighted in GENCI's 2023 Annual Report
In the field of research and innovation, GENCI is a key player in the landscape of high-performance computing (HPC) in France. Established in 2007, its mission is to provide the French scientific community with some of the most powerful HPC resources in the world, including the supercomputers Jean Zay, Joliot Curie, and Adastra. These resources enable scientists to perform complex numerical simulations and analyze massive volumes of data, which are crucial for advancements in various fields such as climatology, particle physics, biology, and much more.
Recently, GENCI published its 2023 activity report, and one of the highlights of the year was the launch of NumPEx!
Find NumPEx on page 20 of the 2023 activity report of GENCI.
2023 – Annual Report GENCI (english version)
2023 – Rapport d’activité GENCI (french version)
© Cyril FRESILLON / IDRIS / CNRS Images
2024 InPEx Workshop
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center and NumPEx were thrilled to gather the InPEx community in Sitges, Spain. From June 17th to June 19th, the workshop brought together around 100 HPC experts from Europe, Japan, and the United States.
This event was the perfect opportunity to discuss about the state of the art, projects and program for Exascale and post-Exascale, to present the lastest achievements of the InPEx working groups since the 2023 Workshop, and to work together about the next steps of InPEx.
If you want to know more, all presentations are available on InPEx website.
Photo credit: Corentin Lefevre/Neovia Innovation/Inria
The first workshop of the NumPEx Accelerator working group
On June 12-13th 2024, the Accelerator working group held the workshop “Programmation GPU” to take a first review of the current situation.
This workshop was the perfect occasion to have a comprehensive overview of the various approaches currently available for an effective use of GPUs, including direct programming, libraries, frameworks, and task-based methods.
The workshop enabled participants to leave with a clear understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of each approach and to benefit from insights and experiences with different codes across these approaches.
You will find below all the presentation materials and video recordings of the day’s events, which were held in French.
Introduction and Context
Both presented by Samuel Thibault, professor at Université de Bordeaux
Overview of GPU approaches
- Approche framework: Arcane, API accélérateur
Gilles Grospellier, CEA researcher - Approche bibliothèque: GPU Programming through external scientific libraries
Florent Pruvost, Inria researcher - Approche langage: Kokkos / OpenMP
Julien Bigot, CEA researcher - Approche tâches, StarPU
Samuel Thibault, professor at Université de Bordeaux
Retex session: feedback and experiences
- Retex – Approche tâches pour l’algèbre linéaire GPU + distribué
Antoine Jego, professor at Sorbonne Université - Retex – Approche tâches pour l’algèbre linéaire GPU + I/O, out-of-core, composition (Chameleon)
Florent Pruvost, Inria researcher - Retex – Approche OpenACC: YALES2
Vincent Moureau, CNRS researcher - Retex – Approche OpenACC: Porting a legacy Fortran CFD HPC code to (AVBP)
Joeffrey Legaux, engineer at CERFACS - Retex – Approche Kokkos: Dyablo, A new hardware-agnostic AMR code for Exascale using Kokkos
Arnaud Durocher, CEA researcher and engineer - Retex – Rust et OpenCL pour le portage GPU (minicl)
Philippe Helluy, professor at Université de Strasbourg
Contributions to the NumPex program and call for proposals
- Contributions prévues au sein du PEPR NumPEx
Samuel Thibault, professor at Université de Bordeaux - Brainstorming on the GPU call for proposals
Title image: © George Kedenburg / Unsplash
The second co-design and co-development workshop of Exa-DI on "Block-structured AMR @Exascale"
The second co-design/co-development workshop of the Exa-DI project (Development and Integration) of the PEPR NumPEx was dedicated to the computation and communication motif “Block-structured AMR @Exascale”. It took place on February 6 and 7, 2024 at the “Grand Amphi” of the “Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris” in Paris.
This face-to-face workshop brought together, for two days, Exa-DI members, members of the other NumPEx projects (Exa-MA: Methods and Algorithms for Exascale, Exa-SoFT: HPC Software and Tools, Exa-DoST: Data-oriented Software and Tools for the Exascale and Exa-AToW: Architectures and Tools for Large-Scale Workflows), Application demonstrators (ADs) from various research and industry sectors and Experts to discuss advancements and future directions for block structured AMR at exascale.
This workshop is the second co-design/co-development workshops in the series whose main objective is to promote software stack co-development strategies to accelerate exascale development and performance portability of computational science and engineering applications. Discussions included challenges in co-design and co-development process, key questions and most urgent issues for collective exploration to build links across NumPEx and the applications, and initiatives promoting exascale software stack sustainability, emphasizing collaboration and innovation.
Key sessions included
- Introduction and Context: Setting the stage for the workshop’s main theme.
- Attendees Self-Introduction: Allowing attendees to introduce themselves and their interests.
- Various Technical Sessions: These sessions featured talks on topics such as exascale performance evaluation and advancements in exascale simulations for different applications like astrophysics simulations, flame fronts and gas/liquid interfaces as well as long molecular dynamic simulations with polarizable force fields. In addition, two experts gave presentations on the Samurai and Hercule libraries and a developer of the massively parallel open-source WarpX Particle-In-Cell code presented his feedback on the implementation of AMReX framework.
- Discussions and RoundTables: These sessions provided opportunities for attendees to engage in discussions and share insights on the presented topics.
Invited speakers
- Jean-Pierre Vilotte from CNRS, member of Exa-DI who provided the introductory context for the workshop.
- Maxime Delorme & Arnaud Durocher from CEA, presenting Dyablo, an AMR code for astrophysics simulations in the exascale era.
- Loic Straffela from Ecole Polytechnique, discussing optimizing I/O performance for AMR Code.
- Igor Chollet from Sorbonne Université, presenting ANKH, a scalable alternative to FFT-based approaches for energy computation on accelerator-based exascale architectures.
- Loic Gouarin from Ecole Polytechnique, presenting SAMURAI: Structured Adaptive mesh and Multi Resolution on Algebra of Intervals
- Luca Fedeli from CEA, discussing implementation of AMReX for WaprX, a Particule-In-Cell code for the exascale era.
- Vincent Moureau from CNRS addressing Dynamic Mesh Adaptation of massive unstructured grids for the simulation of flame fronts and gas/liquid interfaces.
Outcomes and impacts
A very interesting and stimulating outcome that was discussed and decided during this workshop is the set-up of a working group addressing a suite of shared and well specified proxy-apps and mini-apps for this co-design computation and communication motif. Several teams of ADs have expressed their interest in participating in this working group which is being formed and whose first meeting should take place soon.
The discussions allowed us to determine the different goals of this working group. In particular, the criteria of the common mini-apps and proxy-apps that will be built was defined. They have to (i) represent algorithms, data structures and layouts, and other computational and communication characteristics across the different application demonstrators, (ii) leverage and integrate logical suites of software components (libraries, frameworks, tools), (iii) measure interoperability levels, performance gain and/or trade-off between components, performance portability, scalability and software quality and (iv) develop collaborative and shared continuous integration and benchmarking methodologies with standardized performance tools to guide optimizations, together with reference meta-data and specifications models.
The second main goal of this working group, that is also a main goal of the workshop series, is to identify the human resources and expertise in the Computational and Data Team (CDT) that Exa-DI needs to deploy. In the co-design/co-development process, the CDT will ensure the interface between the NumPEx projects and the AD teams to support the co-design and co-development of the mini-apps and proxy-apps suite, together with reference data models for sharing specifications and benchmarking/testing results.
Attendees
- Jean-Pierre Vilotte, CNRS and member of Exa-DI
- Valérie Brenner, CEA and member of Exa-DI
- Jérôme Bobin, CEA and member of Exa-DI
- Mark Asch, Université Picardie and member of Exa-DI
- Julien Bigot, Inria and member of Exa-DI
- Karim Hasnaoui, CNRS and member of Exa-DI
- Christophe Prud’homme, Université de Strasbourg and member of Exa-MA
- Hélène Barucq, Inria and member of Exa-MA
- Isabelle Ramière, CEA and member of Exa-MA
- Vincent Faucher, CEA and member of Exa-MA
- Christian Perez, Inria and member of Exa-MA
- Raymon Namyst, Université de Bordeaux and member of Exa-SoFT
- Alfredo Butari, CNRS and member of Exa-SoFT
- Marius Garenaux, Université de Rennes and member of Exa-AToW
- Olivier Martineau, Université de Rennes and member of Exa-AToW
- Vincent Moureau, CNRS and application demonstrator
- Maxime Delorme, CEA and application demonstrator
- Arnaud Durocher, CEA and application demonstrator
- Allan Sacha, CEA and application demonstrator
- Damien Chapon, CEA and application demonstrator
- Grégoire Doeble, CEA and application demonstrator
- Dominique Aubert, Université de Strasbourg and application demonstrator
- Olivier Marchal, Université de Strasbourg and application demonstrator
- Igor Cholet, Université Paris 13 and application demonstrator
- Jean Philippe Piquemal, Sorbonne Université and application demonstrator
- Louis Lagardère, Sorbonne Université and application demonstrator
- Olivier Adjoua, Sorbonne Université and application demonstrator
- Stefano Frambati, Total Energies and application demonstrator
- Luca Fedeli, CEA
- Loic Strafella, École polytechnique
- Loic Gouarin, CNRS
- Marc Massot, École polytechnique
- Pierre Matalon, École polytechnique
- Geoffroy Lesur, CNRS and member of the PEPR Origins
The first co-design and co-development workshop of Exa-DI on "Efficient Discretisation for PDE@Exascale"
The first co-design/co-development workshop of the Exa-DI project (Development and Integration) of the PEPR NumPEx had the topic “Efficient Discretisation for PDE@Exascale” and took place on November 7 and 8, 2023 at the Amphithéâtre J. Talairach (Neurospin) at CEA Saclay in Gif-sur-Yvette.
This face-to-face workshop brought together for two days Exa-DI members, members of the other NumPEx projects (Exa-MA: Methods and Algorithms for Exascale, Exa-SofT: HPC Software and Tools, Exa-DoST: Data-oriented Software and Tools for the Exascale and Exa-AToW: Architectures and Tools for Large-Scale Workflows), Application demonstrators (ADs) from various research and industry sectors and Experts to discuss advancements and future directions for efficient discretisation of physics-based partial differential equations (PDEs) at exascalein discretizing partial differential equations (PDEs) efficiently for exascale applications.
This workshop is the first co-design/co-development workshops in the series whose main objective is to promote co-software stack development strategies to accelerate exascale development and performance portability of computational science and engineering applications. Discussions included challenges in co-design and co-development process, key questions and most urgent issues for collective exploration building links across NumPEx and the applications, and initiatives promoting exascale software stack sustainability, emphasizing collaboration and innovation.
Key sessions included
- Introduction and Context: Setting the stage for the workshop’s main theme.
- Attendees Self-Introduction: Allowing attendees to introduce themselves and their interests.
- Various Technical Sessions: These sessions featured talks on topics like exascale performance evaluation and advancements in exascale simulations for different applications like durable aircraft prototype, CO2 sequestration, turbomachinery, Earth dynamo simulations, dynamic energy simulation for urban buildings, structural and fluid mechanics simulations, geoscience simulations and finally plasma turbulence simualtions. In addition, an expert does a presentation of Kokkos.
- Discussions and RoundTables: These sessions provided opportunities for attendees to engage in discussions and share insights on the presented topics.
Invited speakers
- Jean-Pierre Vilotte from CNRS, member of Exa-DI who provided the introductory context for the workshop.
- Eric Savin from ONERA, discussing exascale performance evaluation for a durable aircraft prototype.
- Henri Calandra from TotalEnergies, discussing exascale multiphysics simulators for CO2 sequestration and monitoring.
- Christian Trott from SNL, presenting on Kokkos.
- Julien Vanharen & Loic Marechal from Inria, addressing exascale simulations for turbomachinery.
- Nathanaël Schaeffer & Hugo Frezat from CNRS, exploring machine learning applications in Earth dynamo simulations.
- Vincent Chabannes & Christophe Prud’homme from Université de Strasbourg, discussing dynamic energy simulation for urban buildings.
- Olivier Jamond from CEA, presenting a new generation HPC PDE solver targeting industrial applications in structural and fluid mechanics, the MANTA project.
- Soleiman Yousef from IFP Energies nouvelles, discussing performance issues in geoscience applications.
- Virginie GrandGirard from CEA, discussing the GYSELA code for plasma turbulence simulations.
Outcomes and impacts
A very interesting and simulating outcome that was discussed and decided during this workshop is the set-up of a working group addressing a suite of shared and well specified proxy-apps and mini-apps for this co-design computation and communication motif. Several teams of ADs have expressed their interest in participating in this working group which is being formed and whose first meeting should take place next January.
The discussions allowed us to determine the different goals of this working group. In particular, the criteria of the common mini-apps and proxy-apps that will be build was defined. They have to (i) represent algorithms, data structures and layouts, and other computational and communication characteristics across the different application demonstrators, (ii) leverage and integrate logical suites of software components (libraries, frameworks, tools), (iii) measure interoperability levels, performance gain and/or trade-off between components, performance portability, scalability and software quality and (iv) develop collaborative and shared continuous integration and benchmarking methodologies with standardized performance tools to guide optimizations, together with reference meta-data and specifications models.
The second main goal of this working group that is also a main goal of the workshop series is to identify the human resources and expertise in the CDT (Computational and Data Team) that Exa-DI needs to deploy. In the co-design/co-development process, the CDT will ensure the interface between the NumPEx projects and the ADs teams to support the co-design and co-development of the mini-apps and proxy-apps suite, together with reference data models for sharing specifications and benchmarking/testing results.
Attendees
- Jean-Pierre Vilotte, CNRS and member of Exa-DI
- Valérie Brenner, CEA and member of Exa-DI
- Jérôme Bobin, CEA and member of Exa-DI
- Mark Asch, Université Picardie and member of Exa-DI
- Julien Bigot, Inria and member of Exa-DI
- Karim Hasnaoui, CNRS and member of Exa-DI
- Christophe Prud’homme, Université de Strasbourg and member of Exa-MA
- Hélène Barucq, Inria and member of Exa-MA
- Guillaume Latu, CEA and member of Exa-MA
- Raymond Namyst, Université de Bordeaux and member de Exa-SoFT
- Joshua Bowen, Inria and member of Exa-DoST
- Christian Robert Trott, Sandia National Laboratories
- Virginie Grandgirard, CEA and application demonstrator
- Youssef Soleiman, IFPEN and application demonstrator
- Stéphane de Chaisemartin, IFPEN and application demonstrator
- Ani Anciaux Sedrakian, IFPEN and application demonstrator
- Julien Vanharen, Inria and application demonstrator
- Loic Marechal, Inria and application demonstrator
- Nathanael Saeffer, CNRS and application demonstrator
- Hugo Frezat, CNRS and application demonstrator
- Savin Eric, Onera and application demonstrator
- Denis Gueyffier, Onera and application demonstrator
- Henri Calandra, Total Energies and application demonstrator
- Stefano Frambati, Total Energies and application demonstrator
- Olivier Jamon, CEA and application demonstrator
- Nicolas Lelong, CEA and application demonstrator
- Vincent Chabanne, Université de Strasbourg and application demonstrator
The world's most powerful supercomputer coming soon? Elon Musk's optimistic bet with Dojo
Jules Verne, Frontier, Jupiter… They all have one thing in common: they’re supercomputers, capable of performing 1 billion billion floating-point operations per second. And they will soon be joined by Dojo, Elon Musk’s supercomputer, via his Tesla company. Dojo is meant to be the world’s most powerful supercomputer and will be used to train the artificial intelligence models behind the autopilot systems in Tesla vehicles. But with commissioning scheduled for late 2024, will the billionaire’s ambition be achievable?
In this L’usine nouvelle article, Inria researcher Jean-Yves Berthou and CEA researcher Jérôme Bobin, both program directors of the NumPEx PEPR, discuss the subject. For the two researchers, the project is not impossible, but will undoubtedly involve compromises. Will Tesla be able to assemble all the hardware needed to build the supercomputer by October 2024? What will the supercomputer’s real capabilities be?
Photo credit Imgix / UnSplash
The return of the supercomputer race between the United States, China, and Europe
Today’s booming digital technologies require the processing and storage of vast amounts of data. For this, supercomputers are essential. The development of artificial intelligence, machine learning and quantum computing all depend on these structures. Whether it’s the rapid development of medicines and vaccines, improving the aerodynamics of aircraft and other vehicles to reduce energy consumption, or simulating a nuclear explosion for deterrence purposes, the applications are diverse. But above all, they raise political and societal stakes for the major powers: Europe, the USA and China are engaged in a frantic race for supercomputers.
© Christian MOREL / LISN / CNRS Images