A Japanese supercomputer has secured the top spot in the biannual Top 500 supercomputer speed ranking. The supercomputer, named Fugaku after Mount Fuji, has been co-developed by state-backed Fujitsu and Riken Research Institute. The supercomputer packs Fujitsu's high-performance 48-core A64FX system-on-chip. Interestingly, while American and Chinese-made fastest supercomputers normally top the rankings every year, Fugaku happens to be Japan's first system to have ranked first in nine years since its predecessor, Riken’s K computer. It’s also the first time a computer-based on ARM processors has topped the list as well.
Fugaku has achieved a Linpack (HPL) result of 415.5 petaflops, 2.8 times as fast as IBM’s Summit, its nearest competitor. It has also attained top spots in other rankings that test computers on different workloads, including Graph 500, HPL-AI, and HPCG. It is the first time that a supercomputer has topped the rankings in the four categories, according to Fujitsu.
I installed the contact tracing app for #COVID-19 on my Smartphone. Simulation on #Fugaku indicates we need 60% distribution for effectiveness. I encourage people in Japan to install to protect yourself & save lives. It was pro reviewed to be privacy safe. https://t.co/p2xWyvOJlR— Satoshi Matsuoka (@ProfMatsuoka) June 22, 2020
Set to be fully operational by April 2021, Fugaku is currently being used on an experimental basis to help and find a treatment for Covid-19, that also includes diagnostics, and running simulations to research the spread of the SARS-COV-2 virus. Fugaku will also be applied to areas such as natural disasters, weather and climate forecasting, drug discovery, and the development of clean energy.
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