High-Performance Computing

SDSC, Intel Partner on Parallel Computing Center

• By Leila Meyer
• 02/11/16

The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego and Intel have opened a second Intel Parallel Computing Center (Intel PCC) at the SDSC.

The new Intel PCC, called the High Performance GeoComputing Laboratory (HPGeoC), will serve as an interdisciplinary research center in collaboration with the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC). Researchers from UC San Diego, University of Southern California, San Diego State University and the University of California, Riverside will use the center to produce detailed computer simulations of major seismic events with the goal of improving disaster recovery and relief efforts.

The Southern California Earthquake Center has developed a highly scalable 3D earthquake modeling environment called AWP-ODC. Researchers at the High Performance GeoComputing Laboratory will work to modernize the technology using multi-core Intel Xeon processors and many-core, self-hosted, next-generation Intel Xeon Phi processors architecture, according to a news release.

"Realistic, physics-based earthquake ground motion computational models can help key decision-makers identify effective ways to reduce seismic risk," said Thomas Jordan, co-principal investigator on the project and director of the SCEC, in a prepared statement. "This new partnership with Intel provides us the opportunity to substantially broaden the frequency band covered by such detailed simulations, allowing researchers to predict ground motions at frequencies relevant for common dwellings."

The new Intel PCC is the second Intel Parallel Computing Center at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. The first one opened in September 2014 with a focus on "improving the parallelism, efficiency and scalability of widely used molecular and neurological simulation technologies," according to a news release.