Reconfigurable cluster computing installation could be a first

4/8/2009 12:07 PM EDT

Mark Baker Tellez, director of business development for SRC, said the recently installed SRC-7 system is either the first or among the first large reconfigurable computing clusters to be deployed anywhere in the world.

The SRC-7 MAPstation cluster features a Stratix II EP2S180 FPGA from Altera Corp.

"We think this is one of the first large reconfigurable computing clusters to be deployed," Tellez said.

Jack Dongarra, a distinguished professor at the University of Tennessee's department of electrical engineering and computer science, said he couldn't verify that this installation was a first because he couldn't judge the size of the system from the information provided by SRC. Tellez said SRC was unable to provide detailed information about the system due to contractual obligations.

The SRC-7 system was installed in support of a joint research project between JSU and the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, according to SRC.

The system is described as the world's first Infiniband-based SRC-7 MAPstation cluster. Each of the system's nodes is said to have the performance of hundreds of microprocessors. The system consumes 90 percent less power than a microprocessor-based cluster and is capable of scaling to tens of thousands of nodes, according to SRC (Colorado Springs, Colo.)