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Advancing Software-Defined, Silicon-Optimized Data Centers

Synopsys Editorial Staff

Nov 21, 2024 / 3 min read

With some estimates suggesting the demand for AI computing power is , the high-performance computing (HPC) industry continues to experience staggering, unprecedented change.

As a result, data center operators and their technology partners are under considerable pressure to find new answers to longstanding questions. How can they continuously expand computational performance and capacity despite finite space and energy resources? And how can they ensure high availability and reliability despite ever-increasing complexity and scale?

The answers involve efficiency improvements and optimization at deeper and more comprehensive levels ¡ª from systems to software to silicon.

Server, storage, and networking advances and refreshes are no longer enough. Those in the HPC space must consider the interconnectivity of those systems, how much data they need to move, how much memory will be required, and how much latency can be tolerated. They must think about the energy consumption and cooling needs of these macro and micro systems. They need to plan for the workload and capacity requirements of today as well as tomorrow. And they need software and silicon strategies that will enable all of it.

As the world leader in silicon-to-systems design solutions, Synopsys is helping the HPC ecosystem overcome current challenges and prepare for the future. And we provided two notable examples at this week, showcasing the world¡¯s first multi-vendor interop demo of an emerging HPC interconnect and sharing new advances in software-enabled design techniques.

software defined data centers

Silicon IP is a pacemaker for supercomputing performance

The HPC industry relies on interconnects, built using interface IP, to maximize data throughput and efficiency on and between systems-on-chip (SoCs). HPC chip designers need trusted, compliant, and interoperable semiconductor IP early in the design process to ensure their chips perform as planned and meet dynamic performance criteria once manufactured 12 to 18 months later. From 1.6T Ethernet and PCIe 7.0 to 40G UCIe IP solutions, Synopsys maintains a long track record of delivering advanced IP to help customers leverage the latest interconnect technologies and future-proof their SoCs. 

Our interface IP leadership was on display at Supercomputing 2024. In collaboration with Teledyne LeCroy, we demonstrated seamless CXL 3.1 IP communication between our CXL PHY and Controller IP solution and Teledyne LeCroy¡¯s analyzer ¡ª an industry milestone marking the first time two vendor solutions have communicated over CXL 3.1 without the assistance of an interposer. This breakthrough will help the HPC industry optimize memory utilization, power consumption, and cost ¡ª key requirements for software-defined, silicon-optimized data centers.

sc24 digital twins technology

Silicon data advances HPC digital twins technology

Technology sectors, research communities, government entities, and society at large rely on the omnipresent, connected, and intelligent experiences powered by HPC and AI workloads. With this in mind, the reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) of foundational software ¡ª from silicon to systems ¡ª remain critical imperatives. The use of digital twins to simulate system operations can greatly improve the prediction, detection, and mitigation of software-related health issues. However, these simulations are only as good as the inputs used to generate them, shining a spotlight on the role and importance of silicon-level data. 

In her Digital Twins workshop at Supercomputing 2024, Jyotika Athavale, Director of Engineering Architecture at Synopsys, shared novel approaches for improving digital twin simulations ¡ª for data centers and other complex systems like cars and medical devices ¡ª using real-time silicon-level data. 

The integration of silicon health in digital twin simulations broadens the lens of predictive modeling and maintenance to include electronics, which is key for addressing issues such as silent data corruption. Including silicon-level data also creates an end-to-end virtual environment with additional feedback loops, helping improve software, workload, and architecture optimization.

Supercomputing innovation requires a silicon-to-systems strategy

With the computational demands of AI and HPC increasing at an exponential rate, data center operators and technology leaders must find new ways to drive efficiency and optimization. Many are turning to silicon as the keystone for managing software and system complexity and future-proofing their operations. 

Synopsys provides the end-to-end, mission-critical EDA, verification, and IP solutions that help overcome longstanding HPC hurdles and enable the software-defined, silicon-optimized data centers of tomorrow.

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