A supercomputer named Novo-G, described by its lead designer as likely the most powerful computer of its kind in the world, became operational this week at the University of Florida, reports efytimes.
Novo-G gets the first part of its name from the Latin term for "make anew, change, alter", and the second from "G" for "genesis". A "reconfigurable" computer, it can rearrange its internal circuitry to suit the task at hand. "Applications range from space satellites to research supercomputers — anywhere size, energy and high speed.
According to the university's website, traditional computers use so-called "fixed logic devices" to perform a large variety of tasks. But this jack-of-all-trades approach requires a substantial amount of overhead in space and energy, no matter what work needs to be done. On the other hand, special-purpose computers can be built to perform certain tasks very well but are not flexible.
Although the concept has been proven, reconfigurable computers remain at the research stage and are not easy to use. One of the main goals of the NSF Center is to pioneer techniques to make reconfigurable computers more accessible.
