Today Tachyum announced it has successfully deployed the Linux OS on its Prodigy Universal Processor architecture, a foundation for 64-core, ultra-low power, high-performance processor. Running an OS directly and natively on its chip, without the need for host processors or other expensive components, reduces the cost of at-scale data centers and enables nearly unlimited flexibility in use.
Many promising new semiconductor companies succeed in hardware design, but fail at the software stage, so our success with Prodigy running Linux is not just a great achievement technically, it’s a great relief to me personally,” said Tachyum CEO Dr. Radoslav “Rado” Danilak. “With the Prodigy chip fully capable of running the operating system, developers and partners have assurance that there’s no risk and no need for puzzle pieces that add complexity, points of failure, and expense.”
Running Linux on a simulated Prodigy platform signals that the chip can be used for all compute tasks, as opposed to current special-purpose chips or accelerators with limited applications and limited market viability. Hardware equipped with universal computing chips like Prodigy can run core business applications when needed, and then be reassigned to tasks like AI/ML and analytics when idle or underutilized, eliminating the need for separate infrastructures and further improving the total cost of ownership.
According to Tachyum, the Prodigy Universal Processor Chip is the smallest and fastest general purpose, 64-core processor developed to date, requiring 10x less processor power and reducing processor cost by 3x. Prodigy will allow a 32-Exaflop AI supercomputer and enable users to simulate, in real-time, human brain-sized neural nets in 2020, years ahead of industry expectations.
Tachyum has validated the Linux OS and intends to conduct further testing to enable native use of other common Operating Systems such as FreeBSD. While Linux is the most widely used OS in high-end hyperscale, cloud, and commercial HPC environments, Tachyum will also test Prodigy with other compiler solutions such as LLVM to validate support and ensure its chip can be deployed in bespoke computing solutions as warranted.
Tachyum’s product development is moving at an astonishing speed, and that’s a credit to the engineering and design talent of Rado’s team,” said Fred Weber from Tachyum’s board of advisors. “Running an OS directly on the chip, without attaching to another host processor as an accelerator or other workaround, signals to the industry that Tachyum compiler and software is stable, mature, and approaching production-quality.”
Prodigy reduces data center TCO (annual total cost of ownership) by 4x, through a disruptive hardware architecture and a smart compiler that has made many parts of the hardware found in a typical processor redundant. Fewer wires and shorter wires, due to a smaller, simpler core, translates into much greater speed and power efficiency for the processor.
