Barcelona / Tokyo, 14 of November 2024 –Openchip, NEC and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center are studying collaboration to develop the new Openchip Vector Computing Accelerator for use in supercomputing data centers. This collaboration shall mark a significant milestone in the global supercomputing industry.
Openchip is a Spanish silicon engineering company that has received a grant and has been funded by the European Union-Next Generation EU supported by the European Union and the Spanish government under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The company’s mission is to develop System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions based on RISC-V architecture, integrated with artificial intelligence accelerator chiplets.
These processors will optimize computing workloads to accelerate scientific research in areas such as genomic computing, personalized medicine, weather forecasting, engineering simulations, protein design for new medicines and vaccines, astrophysics, and more. The Vector Computing Processors will benefit from the design expertise of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, along with NEC’s more than three decades of leadership in supercomputing architectures, including their renowned SX Series line of vector supercomputers.
NEC will provide technical support for the Openchip Vector Computing Processor based on their extensive years of experience.
Kondo Masaki, Senior Director of HPC at NEC, remarks: “We are pleased to join forces with Openchip, a promising company in the chip industry, and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, a globally recognized hub of research and innovation. Our ambition is to remain a global leader in supercomputing, addressing the demands of high-performance workloads such as advanced simulations, forecasting, genomic computing, large language models, and more. We strive to contribute to society by supporting progress in science and research.”
Mateo Valero, Director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, comments: “We are witnessing a historic moment in the technology industry, where supercomputing data centers are becoming a critical component of societal progress. Supercomputing workloads are evolving rapidly, with major impacts across various scientific and research disciplines. The accelerating demand for artificial intelligence highlights the need for major innovations in computing technologies, and we are proud to contribute to Openchip and NEC’s ambition to design the next generation of vector computing processors.”
Francesc Guim Bernat, CEO of Openchip, comments: “This collaboration demonstrates the potential of RISC-V-based chips to meet the demanding needs of artificial intelligence and supercomputing. It showcases the advantages of a more flexible and open value chain for chip design and production. We recognize NEC as an undisputed global leader in supercomputing, and we are proud to enter this strategic collaboration, which further strengthens our partnership with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. This agreement reflects our shared commitment to collaboration, openness and trust in supporting the European Union’s digital sovereignty by fostering a more resilient semiconductor value chain, ultimately benefiting the global technology industry.
Grant UNICO-IPCEI-2023-001 funded by the European Union-Next Generation EU:
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of ITand network technologies while promoting the brand statement of “Orchestrating a brighter world.” NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. For more information, visit NEC at
https://www.nec.com.
https://www.nec.com/en/global/solutions/hpc/
About BSC
BSC is one of the leading supercomputing centres in Europe and hosts one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, MareNostrum 5. It specialises in High Performance Computing (HPC) and has a dual mission: to provide supercomputing infrastructure and services to the Spanish and European scientific communities, and to generate knowledge and technology for transfer to society. The BSC consortium is made up of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Government of Spain (60%), the Department of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia (30%) and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (10%). The centre manages the Spanish Supercomputing Network (RES) and is one of the hosting entities of the EuroHPC JU, the European initiative leading large-scale investment and deployment of HPC in Europe.
About Openchip
Openchip is a provider specialized in Systems on Chip (SoCs) based on the RISC-V architecture and focused on High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence. Founded in Barcelona, the company is present in Spain and Italy, with the vision of leading the design of chips that will contribute to European digital sovereignty, democratizing access to key technologies. Openchip’s solutions will accelerate research activities in scientific fields – such as genomics, meteorology, protein design, astrophysics, energy, aerospace and advanced simulation – which have a high social and transformative impact on society.
Contacto:
LLYC
+34 93 217 22 17
Tina Díaz: adiaz@llyc.global / +34 689 901 764
Mireia Romero: mireia.romero@llyc.global