Partners

High Performance Computing for Small and Medium Size Companies

Twenty centers for technology transfer are being financed by the European Commission. This should make it possible for small and medium size companies to benefit from technology transfer in the field of high performance computing. INRIA participates in one of these centers.

Whether textile, banking, environment, farm-produce industry or medicine, there is no lack of areas in which high performance computing can be applied. In order to help in particular small and medium size companies to exploit the High Performance Computing and Networking (HPCN) technology, the European Commission is financing twenty technology transfer centers (TTN) in the field. INRIA participates in one of them, the ProHPC TTN. HPCN technology consists in using several computer resources efficiently and simultaneously, e.g., disks, processors, memory and so on. It can be used to increase industrial competitiveness by using, in addition to classic PCs, workstations or optimized machines connected to high performance networks.

In France, the ProHPC TTN organizes training sessions, supervises several transfer projects and assures the promotion of public results on the European level by presenting its results and demonstrations as well as those of other TTNs. It also aids and advises in the elaboration of new projects. There are four partners participating in the ProHPC TTN, the École Normale Supérieure of Lyons, who coordinates the project, Matra Systèmes & Information, Simulog and INRIA. This TTN already involves numerous small and medium size companies, large companies, professional associations, academic institutions and at INRIA, two research teams: projects Omega (Sophia Antipolis) and Caps (Rennes).

SEVEN EXAMPLES OF THE ProHPC TRANSFER CENTER: ProHPC-Finance: Insurance Development of insurance demonstrations to analyze risk and predict the price of an insurance enrollment. ProHPC-MBase: Hospital Realization of a medical image server that ameliorates the communication and management of image bases in a hospital environment. ProHPC-Drill: Drilling Starting from a mechanical simulation of rock section, development of a HPCN version of the mechanical code. ProHPC-Anic: Noise Study of the real-time attenuation of periodic noise in airplanes, automobiles, factories, etc. ProHPC-Acra and ProHPC-Paca: Stand-alone assessments Increasing the awareness of the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region small and medium size companies concerning HPCN technology and making feasibility studies. ProHPC-Taylor: Acoustics Combination of an extrapolation tool with an acoustic simulation software requiring several iterations to scan a frequency range.

Contacts: Thierry Priol and Hugues Leroy
Tel.: +33 2 99 84 71 00
Thierry.Priol@inria.fr - Hugues.Leroy@inria.fr
http://www.irisa.fr/ProHPC