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.

© Guillaume Martel / CEA

by Estelle Hutschka

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.

© Cyril FRESILLON / IDRIS / CNRS Images

by Estelle Hutschka

2024 InPEx Workshop

Find all the presentation on InPEx website here

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

by Estelle Hutschka

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

Retex session: feedback and experiences

Contributions to the NumPex program and call for proposals

Title image: © George Kedenburg / Unsplash

by Estelle Hutschka

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

by Estelle Hutschka

Illustration for hiring scientist on the NumPEx exascale project no people

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

by Estelle Hutschka

The world's most powerful supercomputer coming soon? Elon Musk's optimistic bet with Dojo

Article originally published on the "L'Usine nouvelle" website here

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

by Estelle Hutschka

The return of the supercomputer race between the United States, China, and Europe

Article originally published on the "Le Monde" website here

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

by Estelle Hutschka

NumPEx BOF@SC23

The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis SuperComputing 2023 will take place in Denver from November 12 to 17, 2023.

sc23_homeDuring this conference, a birds of a Feather (BoF) connected to the NumPEx program is scheduled, allowing conference attendees to openly discuss current topics of interest to the HPC community.

Several (trans-)national initiatives have recognized the crucial importance of co-design between hardware, software and application stakeholders in the path to Exascale and beyond. It is seen as indispensable for the efficient exploitation of Exascale computing resources in the development of large-scale application demonstrators but also to prepare complex applications to fully exploit the full capacity of Exascale and post-Exascale sytems.  Among these projects, we can cite the French NumPEX project (41M€) but also the EuroHPC program, or the ECP project in the US and FugakuNEXT project in Japan.  However, these efforts are somehow disconnected while the community would benefit by sharing return of experience, common know-how, and advancing on the new problems arising as exascale machines become more and more available.

Building on earlier efforts of the International Exascale Software Project (IESP), the European EXtreme Data and Computing Initiative (EXDCI), and the BDEC community, we will work on the implementation of an international, shared, high quality computing environment that focuses on co-design principles and practices. US, European and Japanese partners have already met and identified a set of areas for international coordination (among others):

  • Software production and management: packaging, documentation, builds, results, catalogs, continuous integration, containerization, LLVM, parallel tools, etc.
  • Software sustainability
  • Future and disruptive SW&HW technologies and usages (investments and roadmaps)
  • Mapping of missing capabilities (driven by both Apps and SW)
  • Roadmap of near-term HW targets
  • HPC/AI convergence: ML, open models and datasets for AI training,
  • FAIR data stewardship
  • Digital Continuum and Data management
  • Benchmarks and evaluation, co-design (HW, SW, applications)
  • Energy and environmental impact and sustainability
  • Collaboration/Partnership factory: establish collaborations at international level
  • Training

The proposed BOF will offer an overview of the different Exascale programs and initiatives from the perspective of co-design (mixing application, software-stack and hardware perspective). Then, international partners representing major computing centers from Europe, USA and Japan, will expose and discuss the common issues and questions.

BoF leaders will seek feedback from attendees on the objectives of co-design and the efficient exploitation and coordination of existing efforts in Europe, the US and Japan, dedicated to exascale. BOF participants will be invited to share their views on the above problems and issues. We will also discuss candidates for collaborative application demonstrators, of which the LHC project of CERN, IPCC climate models, and the SKA project are some representative examples. Finally, we will call for contributions from participants.

At the BoF, a panel of experts from NumPEx, ECP, Riken-CC, BSC, JSC and from selected application communities, will raise issues and solicit input in each of their respective areas. Representatives of all the involved funding agencies will be invited to participate and contribute.

The ultimate goal of this BOF is to launch a new series of workshops dedicated to international collaborations between Europe, USA and Japan on Exascale and post-Exascale computing.

 

 

 

by Anne-Laure Pele

GENCI

Unleashing the Power of Exascale Computing: Genci's 2022 Activity Report

We are thrilled to present the highly anticipated activity report of Genci for the year 2022.

As a leading organization responsible for providing powerful computational and data processing resources, Genci has been instrumental in driving scientific research and innovation at both the national and European levels.

With a mission to promote the use of supercomputing coupled with artificial intelligence, Genci has made significant strides in benefitting scientific research communities, academia, and industrial sectors. Join us as we explore the remarkable achievements showcased in this 68-page report.

Launching Innovative Programs and Initiatives:

Genci’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of computational capabilities is evident through the launch of several groundbreaking programs and initiatives. The report highlights key projects, such as:

  1. NumPEx: The NumPEx initiative aims to harness the power of supercomputing and AI to drive scientific progress. By providing researchers with cutting-edge computational resources, Genci enables them to tackle complex challenges across various scientific domains.
  2. Jules Verne Consortium for Exascale: Genci’s partnership in the Jules Verne Consortium demonstrates their dedication to advancing exascale computing. This collaboration fosters innovation and propels research in areas that were once unimaginable.
  3. CLUSSTER Project: The CLUSSTER project focuses on integrating cloud computing solutions into Genci’s infrastructure. By embracing the cloud, Genci enhances flexibility and scalability, enabling researchers to tackle data-intensive workloads with ease.
  4. New Supercomputer “Adastra”: Genci’s introduction of the state-of-the-art supercomputer “Adastra” marks a significant milestone. With its remarkable computational power, Adastra empowers researchers to tackle complex simulations, accelerate data analysis, and drive scientific breakthroughs.

Driving Quantum Computing Advancements:

Genci recognizes the immense potential of quantum computing and has made significant progress in this field. The report highlights notable achievements, including:

  1. National Hybrid Quantum Computing Platform: Genci has played a pivotal role in launching of this platform. This initiative fosters collaboration and enables researchers to explore the capabilities of quantum computing in solving real-world problems.
  2. Integration of Quantum Systems: Genci has acquired its first quantum systems, marking a significant step towards enabling researchers to harness the power of quantum computing. These systems pave the way for groundbreaking research and innovation in quantum-enabled applications.
  3. The Quantum Package: Genci’s Quantum Package (PAck Quantique) provides researchers with the necessary tools and resources to explore hybrid quantum computing systems. This initiative promotes the development of novel algorithms and applications that bridge classical and quantum computing.

Advancements in Artificial Intelligence:

Genci has embraced the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, as highlighted in the report:

Bloom Model: Genci’s Bloom Model showcases their efforts to develop cutting-edge AI algorithms and frameworks. By combining supercomputing with AI, Genci facilitates breakthrough research in machine learning, deep learning, and data analytics.

Contributing to Scientific Research and Industry:

Genci is dedicated to supporting scientific research communities, academia, and industrial sectors through different initiatives, as exemplified by their efforts in:

  1. Reusing Waste Heat: Genci’s innovative approach includes the valorization of waste heat generated by the Jean Zay supercomputer. This environmentally friendly initiative showcases Genci’s dedication to sustainability and efficient resource utilization.
  2. Grands Challenges: Genci actively supports researchers in tackling grand challenges, providing them with the computational resources needed to address complex problems across diverse scientific disciplines.
  3. Exemplary Simulations: The report presents compelling examples of simulations conducted with Genci’s resources, showcasing the impactful discoveries and advancements made possible through their support.
  4. Community of Large Industrial Groups: Genci’s collaboration with large industrial groups highlights their commitment to bridging the gap between academia and industry. By fostering partnerships, Genci facilitates the transfer of cutting-edge research and technological advancements into real-world applications.

Genci’s Regional and European Ecosystem:

The report highlights Genci’s active involvement in regional and European initiatives:

  1. Regional Initiatives: Genci actively contributes to regional development through initiatives like SiMSEO, Competence Center, and MesoNet. These programs encourage cooperation among research institutions and industries, which promotes innovation and contributes to economic growth..
  2. European Collaborations: Genci’s participation in European collaborations, such as PRACE, EuroHPC, EUPEX, and EPI SGA, underscores their commitment to establishing a strong European ecosystem for high-performance computing. These collaborations facilitate knowledge exchange, resource sharing, and foster a vibrant European research community.

The 2022 Activity Report by Genci demonstrates their commitment to empowering scientific research and driving innovation by integrating exascale computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing.

Through the launch of groundbreaking programs, the introduction of cutting-edge technologies, and collaborations with research communities and industry, Genci has made significant contributions to advancing scientific frontiers.

Their commitment to sustainable practices and regional and European partnerships further solidifies their position as a leading provider of computational resources.

As we look to the future, Genci continues to pave the way for transformative discoveries and breakthroughs in scientific research and technological innovation.

by Jessica