IARPA Launches Program to Develop a Superconducting Computer
January 19, 2015HYPRES Increases Speed of World’s Fastest Commercially-Available Superconductor Integrated Circuits
August 5, 2015HYPRES, the Digital Superconductor Company, announced that it is working to develop energy-efficient, high-density, cryogenic magnetic random access memory (MRAM) as part of a team led by Raytheon BBN Technologies focused on delivering a cryogenic memory solution for a new generation of energy-efficient superconducting supercomputers.
The multi-year research effort is for the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) Cryogenic Computer Complexity (C3) program. The goal of the C3 program is to establish superconducting computing as a long-term solution to the excessive power and cooling problems projected for next generation exascale, and beyond, supercomputing systems. These new supercomputers will be the successors to end-of-roadmap complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) for high performance computing.
This team is addressing the C3 program cryogenic memory thrust, which is creating new approaches to high performance computing systems with significantly improved memory capacity and energy efficiency compared to the current best solution. This includes development of complete cryogenic memories with their energy-efficient logic and driver circuits.
HYPRES will use its vast expertise in superconductor electronics, and digital single flux quantum (SFQ) circuits to develop a MRAM chip consisting of cryogenic spintronic elements combined with Josephson junction-based superconducting circuits.
“We believe digital superconductor technology will be the critical enabler of a new generation of superconducting supercomputers,” said Richard Hitt, CEO, HYPRES. “We’re very excited to be a part of the IARPA effort and working with Raytheon BBN Technologies to develop new memory solutions that meet the unique requirements for high performance superconductor computing.”
During the initial phase of the C3 program, IARPA-funded researchers are developing the critical memory and logic components for a prototype superconductor computer. The goal of the C3 program is to then scale and integrate the components into a working computer and test its performance.