Project description
Advancing reversible computing for energy-efficient technologies
As digital technology grows, its energy use increases. IT accounts for around 10 % of global energy consumption, which contributes to pollution and climate change. Traditional computing discards large amounts of information, leading to unavoidable energy costs dictated by physics. In contrast, reversible computing (RC) preserves information and offers much lower energy use. This could benefit energy-heavy applications such as machine learning, blockchain, and robotics. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the E-CoRe project is preparing for this RC change by training experts in reversible programming languages, algorithms, and architectures. The project aims to improve energy efficiency and boost software reliability, security, and ease of debugging.
Objective
Energy is a main concern in current society as limited natural resources and high production costs lead to energy shortages, and energy consumption causes complex and undesirable phenomena such as pollution and global warming. IT accounts for a surprisingly large fraction of global energy consumption, estimated at 10%. Hence, energy efficiency in computing is a critical and necessary research area, called green computing. The laws of physics, Landauer principle in particular, fix a lower bound to the amount of energy needed to perform an irreversible computation, proportional to the number of bits of information discarded by it. Classical computing discards large amounts (e.g. x=0 on 64 bits discards 64 bits), while reversible computing (RC) discards none, avoiding Landauer’s lower bound. Although the fraction of energy lost due to Landauer principle is a currently small (around 1‰), it will become increasingly relevant as hardware technology improves. It is our conviction that in the near future RC will become a main player in the quest for energy-efficient computing. We call such transition the RC revolution.
The world, EU research, and software industry in particular, are not ready for the RC revolution. RC is a young and relatively small area, albeit with breakthrough applications in robotics, debugging, and parallel simulation. Reversible programming languages exist, but they are at the stage of academic prototypes, missing key elements such as error handling and modularity, libraries of relevant algorithms, and high-level tool support. E-CoRe aims at setting the stage for the RC revolution by forming a community of experts with deep understanding of RC intricacies, who will improve and popularize RC languages, algorithms and architectures, in particular in energy-intensive applications such as machine learning, blockchains and drones. Beyond energy efficiency, RC also benefits other aspects of software, including ease of debugging, reliability and security.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN - HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral Networks
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
40126 Bologna
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.