Chinese supercomputer will feature The Godson-3B: A mesh style processor

Like any processor on the market the Godson-3B has some benefits and some detriments to it. This processor is not the fastest on the market. It has a peak frequency of 1.05 gigahertz, which makes it much slower than competitors that can operate at more than 5 GHz.

The real benefit to this processor is its energy efficiency. The processor has the capability of executing 128 billion floating-point operations per second while using just 40 watts of power. This is about twice as efficient as some of its competitors.

This chip comes with a modified structure that allows for the relaying of messages among multiple processor cores.

Unlike the chips current in development by both Intel and IBM, which will both feature a ring style, the Godson chip feature a a modified version of the grid like interconnect system that is known as the mesh network.

The processor was developed by a team of researches that was being led by Weiwu Hu at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing. This mesh formatting allows for the energy-use reduction. The chip also have the potential to be highly scalable for larger sized systems, though smaller ones may find the ring architecture to be more adaptable.

More information: Earlier research paper: http://www.compute … 9/MM.2009.30
via IEEE

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