PARAM RUDRA
- PARAM Rudra is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India. It is designed for various underwater missions, including surveillance, mine detection, and oceanographic data collection. The AUV can operate autonomously, navigate underwater environments, and carry various payloads like sonar systems and cameras
- PARAM Rudra is designed for various high-performance computing applications, including scientific simulations, artificial intelligence, and big data analytics
- It uses a hybrid CPU-GPU architecture, combining traditional processors with graphics processing units for enhanced parallel computing capabilities
- The supercomputer is used in various fields such as weather forecasting, climate modeling, molecular dynamics, quantum mechanics, and computational fluid dynamics
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PARAM Rudra supercomputers are locally developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) as part of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
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These supercomputers have been installed in Pune, Delhi, and Kolkata to enable significant advancements in scientific research.
(i) Pune's Giant Metre Radio Telescope (GMRT): This facility will leverage the supercomputer to investigate Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and other cosmic events.
(ii) Delhi's Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC): The supercomputer will enhance research in areas like material science and atomic physics.
(iii) Kolkata's S.N. Bose Centre: It will facilitate cutting-edge research in fields such as physics, cosmology, and earth sciences.
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Among these, the most powerful is at IUAC, boasting a 3 petaflop capacity. GMRT's supercomputer has a capacity of 1 petaflop, while the system at S.N. Bose Institute offers 838 teraflops.
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Additionally, computational capacity for weather and climate studies has seen major improvements with the installation of High-Power Computing (HPC) systems at two atmospheric science institutes, one in Pune and one in Noida, both of which now have their own supercomputers.
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The Arka system at IITM, with a capacity of 11.77 petaflops, will for the first time enhance the nation's global weather prediction models by improving horizontal resolution from 12 km to 6 km. The HPC Arunika, with 8.24 petaflops, will aid in enhancing weather forecast precision at the block level.
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The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), launched in 2015, aims to link national academic and research institutions through a network of high-performance computing facilities.
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NSM is jointly overseen by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY). Its implementation is handled by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Pune and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru.
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The mission's goal is to build a robust supercomputing infrastructure in India to enhance research capabilities. Its primary objectives include:
— Establishing India as a global leader in high-performance computing (HPC) and strengthening the nation's ability to tackle major national and global challenges.
— Equipping scientists and researchers with advanced computing resources for conducting groundbreaking research in their fields.
— Minimizing redundancies and avoiding duplication of investments.
— Developing an ecosystem that positions India as a major supercomputing power, ensuring global competitiveness and self-reliance in HPC.
- The mission is divided into three phases: phase I focuses on assembling supercomputers, phase II on manufacturing key components domestically, and phase III on designing supercomputers entirely within India
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National Quantum Mission
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- FLOPs, or Floating-Point Operations per Second, is a widely used measure for assessing computational performance, particularly in high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI). It refers to a type of mathematical operation that involves real numbers with fractional components.
- While FLOPs are important, they are not the only factor influencing a system's performance. Other elements like memory bandwidth, latency, and architectural design also play crucial roles.
- However, FLOPs provide a useful benchmark for comparing the computational power of different systems, especially for tasks heavily reliant on floating-point calculations.
- Given the vast processing capabilities of modern computers, FLOPs are typically expressed in billions (giga), trillions (tera), or even quadrillions (peta) of operations per second (GFLOPs, TFLOPs, PFLOPs, respectively). A petaflop equals 1,000 TFLOPs or 10¹⁵ FLOPs
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For Prelims: Semiconductor, Transistors, Fabrication Technology
For Mains:
1. Discuss the recent global chip shortage and its implications for India's semiconductor industry. What steps has India taken to enhance its domestic chip manufacturing capabilities? (250 Words)
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Previous Year Questions
1. Which of the following fabrication techniques is ideally suited for digital ICs?
(KVS TGT WET 2017)
A. Monolithic B. Thin film C. Hybrid D. Thin film and hybrid
Answer: A
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