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(EPI) is a European processor project to design and build a new family of European low-power processors for supercomputers, Big Data, automotive, and offering high performance on traditional high-performance computing (HPC) applications and emerging applications such as on machine learning. It is led by a consortium of European companies and universities. The project is divided in multiple phases funded under Specific Grant Agreements. The first grant agreement was implemented under the
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
program
Horizon 2020 The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europe ...
(FPA: 800928) in the December 2018 to November 2021 time span. The second agreement will be implemented afterwards under the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking which issued a call, which was answered in January 2021 by the same consortium (H2020-JTI-EuroHPC-2020-02 FPA in EPI (phase II)). The processor that is to be developed is a system on a chip ( SoC) that makes use of the
RISC In electronics and computer science, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer architecture designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a comp ...
technology, implements microprocessor cores of
ARM architecture ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer, RISC instruction set architectures (ISAs) for central processing unit, com ...
and accelerators, and specialises in matrix calculations and
deep learning Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that focuses on utilizing multilayered neural networks to perform tasks such as classification, regression, and representation learning. The field takes inspiration from biological neuroscience a ...
for
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
. The processor is designed to be integrated in an exascale supercomputer, but also to be implemented in cars.


Objectives

The aim of the EPI project is to design and build a high-performance, low-power processor, implementing vector instructions and specific accelerators, such as accelerators for AI, with high-bandwidth memory access. The design will be based on the results obtained through an intensive use of simulation, the development of a complete software stack and the use of advanced semiconductor manufacturing technologies. During the development of the processor, a co-design methodology will be implemented to ensure that the processor is suitable for efficiently running many applications and that it is equipped with the appropriate software development tools. The objective of the EPI is to develop European know-how on the design and construction of processors for high-performance computing, allowing Europe technological sovereignty.


Members

EPI is a non-legal entity, a project organized by 30 institutions from 10 countries in Europe. The members of the consortium are:


History

The initiative started in 2015, in the aim to produce an exascale supercomputer by 2023. The first phase of the project started in December 2018. In the summer of 2019, the basis of the architecture was decided. In January 2020, the first prototype was presented.{{Cite web, last=Michael Feldman, date=27 January 2020, title=European Processor Initiative Readies Prototype, url=https://www.nextplatform.com/2020/01/27/european-processor-initiative-readies-prototype/, url-status=live, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201001041/https://www.nextplatform.com/2020/01/27/european-processor-initiative-readies-prototype/, archive-date=1 December 2020, access-date=, website=NextPlatform.com, language=en


Organization of the project

The European Processor Initiative has five streams of operation. The first four are technical streams (Common Platform and Global Architecture, HPC General Purpose Processor, Accelerator, Automotive platform), while the last one is dedicated to the coordination and communication activities.


See also

*
Quintauris Quintauris is a European joint company specialized in development of RISC-V based technologies. Currently located in Germany, the company aims to support and standardize RISC-V commercially. History On August 4, 2023, 5 semiconductor companie ...
, a European joint company that aims standardizing RISC-V


References


Bibliography

* Michael Feldman. "European Processor Initiative Readies Prototype". ''The Next Platform''. Boone, NC: January 27, 2020. https://www.nextplatform.com/2020/01/27/european-processor-initiative-readies-prototype/ * Michael Feldman. "First European Pre-Exascale Supercomputers Forgo Homegrown CPUs". ''The Next Platform''. Boone, NC: November 20, 2019. https://www.nextplatform.com/2019/11/20/first-european-pre-exascale-supercomputers-forgo-homegrown-cpus/ alks about the delay in EPI* Nitin Dahad. "European Processor Initiative Announces Common Platform For HPC." ''EE Times Europe''. Ebersberg, Germany. November 5, 2019. https://www.eetimes.eu/european-processor-initiative-announces-common-platform-for-hpc/ * Doug Black. "An Update on the European Processor Initiative". ''Inside HPC''. 26 September 2019. https://insidehpc.com/2019/09/an-update-on-the-european-processor-initiative/ * Calista Redmond. "How the European Processor Initiative is Leveraging RISC-V for the Future of Supercomputing". ''Inside HPC''. Westborough, MA. 22 August 2019. https://insidehpc.com/2019/08/how-the-european-processor-initiative-is-leveraging-risc-v-for-the-future-of-supercomputing/ * Sebastian Moss. "European Processor Initiative delivers first architectural designs to the European Commission". ''Data Centre Dynamics''. London: June 4, 2019. https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/six-months-european-processor-initiative-delivers-architectural-designs-european-commission/ * Dan Olds. "The Plan for Europe’s Homegrown Exascale HPC". ''The Next Platform''. Boone, NC: October 20, 2018. https://www.nextplatform.com/2018/10/24/the-plan-for-europes-homegrown-exascale-hpc/ resents EPI initial timeline* European Commission. "European Processor Initiative: Consortium to Develop Microprocessors for Future Supercomputers". ''R&D World''. 26 March 2018. https://www.rdworldonline.com/european-processor-initiative-consortium-to-develop-microprocessors-for-future-supercomputers/


External links


Official website
ARM architecture Processor Horizon 2020 projects Information technology organizations based in Europe Microprocessors RISC-V Science and technology in Europe Supercomputers