Over the four year period, the estimated investment will be more than $50 million, including a $27.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The project may be renewed for another system deployed in 2017 which would enable four additional years of open science research. When Stampede is deployed in 2013, it will be the most powerful system in the NSF "eXtreme Digital" (XD) environment, currently the most advanced, comprehensive, and robust collection of integrated digital resources and services enabling open science research in the world.

"Stampede will be one of the most powerful systems in the world and will be uniquely comprehensive in its technological capabilities," said TACC Director Jay Boisseau. "Many researchers will leverage Stampede not only as part of their breakthrough scientific research, but for all of their scientific research, including visualization, data analysis and data-intensive computing. We expect the Stampede system to be an exemplar for supporting both simulation-based science and data-driven science."

As a critical part of XD, the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) consortium, comprising more than a dozen universities and two research laboratories, has now replaced the previous, open scientific computing grid, the TeraGrid, as the integrating fabric for the bulk of NSF's high end digital resources. Stampede will enable researchers from any U.S. open science institution to apply for and use its resources for a variety of novel scientific and educational activities.

"We at NSF are gratified to fund such a powerful combination of system and services for open science research," said Irene Qualters, NSF program director for high performance computing. "The technological capacity is important; but even more important is that the scientific community--those on the front lines of cutting edge research on a number of multi-disciplinary areas critical to addressing society's most vexing challenges - have open access in order to push the frontiers of science and engineering."

Computational science has become the third pillar of scientific discovery - complementing theory and physical experimentation - that allows scientists to explore phenomena that are too big, too small, too fast or too dangerous to investigate in the laboratory. Advanced computing enables complex computational science and engineering research and is critical in areas such as weather forecasting, climate modeling, energy exploration and production, drug discovery, materials development and safe and efficient automobile and airplane design.

"This new resource will substantially increase the computational capacity that the XD/XSEDE program can deliver to the open science community for leading edge science," said Barry Schneider, NSF program director for cyber-infrastructure. "It is becoming clear that our progress towards treating more complex and larger problems in the physical and biological sciences will depend crucially on advances in computational science which in turn depend on advances in hardware and software.

Stampede is a balanced, heterogeneous computational instrument which represents an important if not critical path forward in achieving those goals."

The new supercomputer will support more than a thousand projects in computational and data-driven science and engineering from across the United States. It will also allow researchers to develop advanced methods for petascale computing, including Intel MIC architecture optimization, and will foster new expertise in data-intensive computing.

"Stampede will usher forth a new era of computational simulation in which observational and experimental data are assimilated into large-scale models to create better predictions, accompanied by quantified uncertainties," said Omar Ghattas, professor of Geological Sciences and Mechanical Engineering, and director of the Center for Computational Geosciences in the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. "My group, in particular, is excited about the opportunities Stampede offers to greatly accelerate our work in quantifying uncertainties in computer models of dynamics of polar ice sheets, global seismic wave propagation, and whole-earth plate tectonics," he said.

The computer will be operated and supported by TACC, Dell and a team of cyber-infrastructure experts at The University of Texas at Austin, Clemson University, University of Colorado at Boulder, Cornell University, Indiana University, Ohio State University and The University of Texas at El Paso. It will be used to help train the next generation of researchers in advanced computational science and technology, expanding the use of advanced computing across disciplines and into new communities and domains.

Supercomputer power can be used to shed light on HIV's behavior, opening up new research directions to battle this global disease. Key mutations in specific amino acids in the CA domain change the Gag structure in the immature virion, perhaps altering the HIV-1 maturation pathway. The domains with the highest degree of structure are shown with yellow dots. Image: Gregory A. Voth, University of Chicago

The 22nm 3-D Tri-Gate transistors provide up to 37 percent performance increase at low voltage versus Intel's 32nm planar transistors. This gain means that they are ideal for use in small handheld devices, which operate using less energy to "switch" back and forth. Alternatively, the new transistors consume less than half the power when at the same performance as 2-D planar transistors on 32nm chips.

The three-dimensional Tri-Gate transistors represent a fundamental departure from the two-dimensional planar transistor structure that has powered not only all computers, mobile phones and consumer electronics to-date, but also the electronic controls within cars, spacecraft, household appliances, medical devices and virtually thousands of other everyday devices for decades.

"Intel's scientists and engineers have once again reinvented the transistor, this time utilizing the third dimension," said Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini. "Amazing, world-shaping devices will be created from this capability as we advance Moore's Law into new realms."

Scientists have long recognized the benefits of a 3-D structure for sustaining the pace of Moore's Law, named for Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, as device dimensions become so small that physical laws become barriers to advancement. Intel's 3-D Tri-Gate transistors enable chips to operate at lower voltage with lower leakage, providing a combination of improved performance and energy efficiency compared to previous transistors.

"The performance gains and power savings of Intel's unique 3-D Tri-Gate transistors are like nothing we've seen before," said Mark Bohr, Intel Senior Fellow. "This milestone is going further than simply keeping up with Moore's Law. The low-voltage and low-power benefits far exceed what we typically see from one process generation to the next. It will give product designers the flexibility to make current devices smarter and wholly new ones possible. "

The 3-D Tri-Gate transistor replaces the traditional "flat" two-dimensional planar gate with a three-dimensional silicon fin that rises up vertically from the silicon substrate. Control of current is accomplished by implementing a gate on each of the three sides of the fin rather than just one on top, as is the case with the 2-D planar transistor. The additional control enables as much transistor current flowing as possible when the transistor is in the "on" state, and as close to zero as possible when it is in the "off" state, and enables the transistor to switch very quickly between the two states.

Intel's 3-D Tri-Gate transistor structure provides a new way to manage density. Since these fins are vertical in nature, transistors can be packed closer together, a critical component to the technological and economic benefits of Moore's Law. For future generations, designers also have the ability to continue growing the height of the fins to get more performance and energy-efficiency gains.

"For years we have seen limits to how small transistors can get," said Moore. "This change in the basic structure is a truly revolutionary approach, and one that should allow Moore's Law, and the historic pace of innovation, to continue."

Intel demonstrated working prototypes of the 22nm microprocessor in a laptop, server and desktop computer earlier this week. Intel Core family processors will be the first high-volume chips to use 3-D Tri-Gate transistors. Ivy Bridge is slated for high-volume production readiness by the end of this year.

The illustration compares a conventional transistor (on the left) with the new 22nm transistor. The current (represented by the yellow dots) flows in a plane underneath the gate in 32nm planar transistors. On the right is the 22nm 3-D Tri-Gate transistor with current flowing on 3 sides of a vertical fin. Illustration: Intel

Cloud 2015  has three key elements: a "federated" cloud that allows enterprises to share data across internal and external clouds; an “automated” network that allows the secure movement of applications and resources to significantly improve energy efficiency in data centers; and PC and device-savvy "client-aware" clouds that know what types of applications, commands and processing should take place in the cloud or on a laptop, smartphone or other device and take features unique to a specific device into account to fully optimize a users online experience.

"The industry has an opportunity to accelerate the potential of cloud computing, delivering even better industry economics through this transformation," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager, Intel Data Center Group. "With the Open Data Center Alliance we now have the world’s top businesses focused and actively engaged with Intel and the high-tech industry, accelerating solutions to the cloud’s key challenges. The server industry has gone through an amazing transformation since the Intel Pentium Pro’s introduction in 1995; our goal is to ensure that cloud computing continues to deliver breakthrough economics based on the same fundamental principle -innovation on open, interoperable standards.

"Intel says that it will work with its hardware and software partners, engaging the industry to innovate on open standards, delivering a faster ramp to the next stage of the Internet, and delivering an open, interoperable and secure cloud that will empower the next generation of business, movies, gaming, music, social media and other yet-to-be-invented Web services. Leading international companies including BMW, China Life, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, Inc., National Australia Bank, Shell, Terremark and UBS are members of the Open Data Center Alliance.

Photo: www.imagine-your-world.com

"Our goal is not to duplicate the news and cover every major milestone or event from Intel," the company says on its site. "Nor do we want this to be the kind of news you may find in a press release. We aim to capture and share interesting behind-the-scenes stories that provide insight into what’s going on inside Intel and indirectly, the tech industry. We are Intel geeks at heart, taking an editorial approach to producing stories with journalistic style and integrity, and doing it as objectively as possible while being transparent about who we work for. We hope our stories are compelling to anyone who interested in technology, and the people and innovations that are changing our world."

Current coverage on the new website includes stories about Intel’s Wind River acquisition, Moore’s Law, an opinion on why U.S. schools lag on PC adaption, and a story on how lasers revolutionize computing, among others. The stories are complemented by video content ranging from a supercomputer at Sandia National Laboratories to a warm spring in Ireland. The news content can be republished, edited, and re-used free of charge, Intel says in a statement.

News that are often overlooked or warrant more context and deeper reporting are at the center of Intel’s new website. Photo: www.imagine-your-world.com

"In their short history, the netbook category has experienced impressive growth," said Erik Reid, director of marketing for mobile platforms at Intel. "Having shipped about 70 million Intel Atom chips for netbooks since our launch of the category in 2008, there is obviously a great market for these devices around the world."

Netbooks based on the dual-core Intel Atom N550 will allow users to play games and use Adobe Flash to access more Web pages including online hotel booking systems and multimedia sites such as YouTube and Hulu. Intel says that the N550 will yield battery life similar to the single-core Intel Atom processor N450.

Netbooks are usually low-cost (compared to laptops) PC’s with smalls screens (10 inch plus) and keyboards. They are primarily designed to allow users to surf the Internet and run basic applications. While very popular, they have been criticized for week graphics and slow performance.

AMD plans to ship an Atom competitor code-named Ontario in the fourth quarter of 2010.