SUPRENUM

SUPRENUM, an acronym derived from the German phrase “SUPerREchner für NUMerische Anwendungen,” was a German government-backed research and technology program focused on massively parallel computing. It began in 1985 with support from the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology and sought to establish national expertise in both parallel-computer hardware and the software needed to operate and program such machines. The program was conceived as more than an academic experiment. Its mandate combined research with a commercial objective: a working computer was to be developed, software and numerical applications were to be created, and the resulting technology was to be marketed to industrial and scientific users. SUPRENUM Supercomputer GmbH was established in Bonn to coordinate the overall effort, manage software work, and pursue commercialization. The project assembled a broad German consortium involving research organizations, universities, industrial users, and technology companies. Participants included GMD, research centers at Jülich and Karlsruhe, DLR, several German universities, Dornier, Kraftwerk Union, Krupp Atlas Elektronik, Stollmann, and Suprenum GmbH. The principal technical outcome was Suprenum-1, a distributed-memory massively parallel multiple-instruction, multiple-data computer. Its architecture was designed to scale to 256 application nodes arranged in clusters and connected through a high-speed bus network. Application nodes used Motorola 68020 processors with floating-point, vector-floating-point, memory-management, and communication coprocessors. The design also incorporated error-protected memory, dedicated communication hardware, cluster-level disk services, and gateways to host systems. A fully configured prototype became available by 1990, after the main period of government funding had ended. The machine was regarded as the fastest massively parallel MIMD computer for a period in 1992. Software was a central part of the project. SUPRENUM developed PEACE, an operating system intended to support multitasking and low-latency message passing; compilers and language extensions for parallel Fortran; the PARMACS communication library; and application software for scientific and engineering workloads. The project placed particular emphasis on high-level grid and communication primitives, which helped researchers adapt numerical methods to distributed-memory systems. Development also explored language features for task control, data movement, vector processing, and parallel execution. Despite its technical achievements, SUPRENUM did not become a successful commercial computer business. Development costs exceeded 160 million Deutsche Mark according to contemporary assessments, only a small number of systems were shipped, and the project did not secure a broad customer base. The planned second phase, sometimes described as SUPRENUM 2, was not funded, removing the prospect of a successor machine and weakening customer confidence in long-term product continuity. Critics also argued that industrial participation was insufficient for a project with commercial ambitions. SUPRENUM’s longer-term impact was more substantial in research and software than in product sales. Personnel, methods, and technologies associated with the program contributed to successor or related efforts including GENESIS, SUPERB, MANNA, PPPE, RAPS, and Pallas. Pallas GmbH emerged from the remnants of SUPRENUM GmbH in 1991 and continued parts of the software and high-performance-computing work; Intel acquired Pallas’s high-performance-computing division in 2003. The SUPRENUM project therefore failed as a sustained commercial supercomputer venture but helped develop German and European competence in parallel architectures, operating systems, compilers, and numerical software. SUPRENUM Supercomputer GmbH is recorded as defunct from 12 July 2010.

SUPRENUM was launched in 1985 as a German national project for massively parallel numerical computing. Its German name expanded to “SUPerREchner für NUMerische Anwendungen,” or supercomputer for numerical applications. Federal funding came from the Ministry for Research and Technology, and the project was expected to combine fundamental research with the development of a commercially viable computer system. The initiative followed a preparatory definition phase of more than a year, during which technical concepts were developed and participating organizations were selected. Its planned scope had two stages. The first, SUPRENUM 1, was to deliver a high-speed MIMD computer. The second was intended to extend the system’s software and architecture to more difficult workloads, including dynamic and irregular grids, adaptive procedures, Monte Carlo methods, non-grid applications, alternative network topologies, and programming-language mechanisms for automatic load distribution. Only the first stage was substantially completed. SUPRENUM Supercomputer GmbH was established in Bonn to coordinate the program, contribute to software development, and commercialize the results. The consortium included government and university research groups, industrial users, and technology suppliers. GMD contributed expertise in numerical methods, hardware, and operating systems. Research centers in Jülich and Karlsruhe, DLR, universities in Darmstadt, Bonn, Braunschweig, Düsseldorf, and Erlangen-Nuremberg, and companies including Dornier, Kraftwerk Union, Krupp Atlas Elektronik, and Stollmann were involved in different parts of the work. Industrial participation in actual hardware production was concentrated particularly at Krupp Atlas Elektronik. Suprenum-1 used a distributed hardware design with clusters of processors linked by a grid of high-speed buses. The target configuration provided 256 application nodes, while additional nodes supplied standby, disk, diagnostic, communication, and gateway functions. Application nodes were built around 20 MHz Motorola 68020 processors and included Motorola memory-management and floating-point components, Weitek vector-floating-point hardware, and a dedicated communication unit. The system’s architecture emphasized scalable message passing and efficient communication between processors. Contemporary descriptions placed the complete release at approximately one gigaflop of aggregate performance under the stated configuration and workload assumptions. The software program was unusually broad. PEACE, meaning Process Execution And Communication Environment, was developed as a dedicated operating system for multitasking and message passing. A parallel Fortran compiler extended Fortran 77 with features associated with the emerging Fortran 90 standard, while PARMACS supplied a message-passing programming model. Libraries for grid operations and communication were intended to simplify the porting of scientific applications. Some technical goals, particularly communication-computation overlap and very low message latency, were not fully achieved, and compiler development was halted before the environment reached full maturity. Later work continued through the SUPERB or “Vienna Fortran” effort. A prototype was available by 1990, and Suprenum-1 achieved notable performance recognition in 1992. Nevertheless, only five systems were shipped, and the program struggled to convert its research achievement into a sustainable product business. Development expenditure was assessed at more than 160 million Deutsche Mark. The cancellation of the planned second phase removed a successor platform that prospective users would have needed for long-term software investment. The project was consequently judged a commercial failure, despite strong technical and institutional results. After the project, its people and technologies continued through several research and commercial initiatives. GENESIS drew on SUPRENUM work and influenced later European parallel systems, including the Meiko CS-2. PEACE was used in the non-profit MANNA architecture, while application and software work continued through SUPERB, Pallas, PPPE, and RAPS. Pallas GmbH, founded in 1991 from the remnants of SUPRENUM GmbH, later sold its high-performance-computing division to Intel in 2003. SUPRENUM Supercomputer GmbH is recorded as defunct on 12 July 2010. The project’s legacy is therefore mixed: it failed to establish a continuing commercial machine line but made durable contributions to European parallel-computing expertise.

• 2010

  SUPRENUM Supercomputer GmbH becomes defunct

  [1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  SUPRENUM Supercomputer GmbH is recorded as defunct on 12 July 2010.

• 2003

  Intel acquires Pallas HPC division

  [1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  Intel purchases Pallas’s high-performance-computing division, extending one commercial branch of the SUPRENUM legacy.

• 1992

  Suprenum-1 gains performance recognition

  [1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  Suprenum-1 is regarded for a period as the fastest massively parallel MIMD computer.

• 1991

  Pallas GmbH develops from SUPRENUM

  [1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  Pallas emerges from the remains of SUPRENUM GmbH and carries forward parts of the project’s software and high-performance-computing activities.

• 1990

  Suprenum-1 prototype completed

  [1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  A fully configured 256-node Suprenum-1 prototype becomes available as the main project funding period concludes.

• 1985

  SUPRENUM project begins

  [1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  The German federal research ministry begins supporting a national effort to develop massively parallel computer hardware, operating systems, compilers, and applications.

A national German high-performance-computing research and commercialization initiative centered on massively parallel processing for scientific and engineering applications.

• Massively parallel supercomputer · 1990

  Suprenum-1

  Suprenum-1 was a distributed-memory MIMD computer designed to scale to 256 application nodes. Its clustered architecture used high-speed buses arranged in a grid, dedicated communication hardware, disk and diagnostic nodes, and host-system gateways. Application nodes combined Motorola 68020 processors with scalar and vector floating-point hardware, protected memory, and communication coprocessors. The design targeted scientific and engineering workloads that could benefit from parallel numerical methods. A fully configured prototype was available by 1990, and the system briefly achieved leading status among massively parallel MIMD computers.

• Parallel operating system

  PEACE

  PEACE, short for Process Execution And Communication Environment, was an operating system created specifically for the SUPRENUM architecture. It was designed to support multitasking and efficient message passing across distributed processors. Although it provided a foundation for running parallel applications, communication latency and limitations in overlapping communication with computation prevented all of the project’s performance objectives from being realized. PEACE later influenced related research work, including the MANNA architecture.

• Compiler and programming environment

  SUPRENUM parallel Fortran environment

  The project developed a parallel Fortran compiler and programming environment based on Fortran 77, incorporating selected capabilities associated with the developing Fortran 90 standard. Language-level mechanisms supported task control and communication, while the broader software stack included vectorization and message-passing facilities. Compiler work ended before the environment reached full maturity and continued in successor efforts such as SUPERB, also known as Vienna Fortran.

• Message-passing library

  PARMACS

  PARMACS was the project’s explicitly message-passing-oriented programming library. It provided communication abstractions for distributed-memory applications and complemented the language and operating-system layers of the SUPRENUM software stack. The project also developed higher-level grid and communication primitives intended to make scientific applications easier to port and to improve their portability across parallel systems.

• 1991

  Software and high-performance-computing work continues through PallasStrategy

  Background

  The end of the main SUPRENUM effort left software expertise, personnel, and development activities that could be continued outside the original project structure.

  Action taken

  Pallas GmbH was formed from the remnants of SUPRENUM GmbH and pursued related high-performance-computing and software activities.

  Aftermath

  Pallas became a commercial continuation of important software aspects of SUPRENUM and later sold its high-performance-computing division to Intel.

  Source

• 1990

  Government funding for the planned second phase is not continuedStrategy

  Background

  The original program envisioned a second phase covering expanded applications, more flexible interconnects, advanced programming concepts, and a path toward a commercial successor system.

  Action taken

  The Federal Ministry for Research and Technology waived funding for the planned second phase after the first-stage project produced a prototype but failed to establish convincing commercial traction.

  Aftermath

  The absence of a successor system weakened the commercial proposition and contributed to the project’s reputation as a commercial failure, even though its research results continued through later European parallel-computing projects.

  Source

• 2003

  Intel acquires Pallas high-performance-computing division[1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  Pallas sold its high-performance-computing division to Intel, extending one branch of the SUPRENUM project’s commercial legacy.

• 1992

  Suprenum-1 reaches leading massively parallel performance[1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  Product generation

  Suprenum-1 was reported as the fastest massively parallel MIMD computer for a period, although the project did not achieve sustained commercial success.

• 1991

  Pallas emerges from the SUPRENUM legacy[1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Pallas GmbH developed from the remains of SUPRENUM GmbH and continued important parts of the project’s high-performance-computing and software work.

• 1990

  Fully configured Suprenum-1 prototype becomes available[1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  By the end of the principal funding period, the project had produced a fully configured 256-node Suprenum-1 prototype.

• 1985

  SUPRENUM project begins with German federal research support[1]SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The German Federal Ministry for Research and Technology began funding the SUPRENUM effort to develop national capabilities in massively parallel computer hardware and software.

1. 1SUPRENUMen.wikipedia.org