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COMpilers for ExTreme Heterogeneity

Project description

Smarter compilers to handle more complex computing systems

Computing is evolving rapidly, moving beyond the traditional models that have powered technology for decades. As electronics scaling slows down, new hardware architectures and computing paradigms (e.g. compute-in-memory (CIM)) are emerging that break away from the classic von Neumann paradigm. This will bring the era of extreme heterogeneous computing systems that combine different and complex approaches that can no longer rely on incremental programming advances. The ERC-funded COMETH project will develop new compiler technologies and models to bridge high-level programming (e.g. Python) with these emerging systems. Researchers will start with well-understood paradigms like CIM and create flexible tools that can adapt to future paradigms. Project activities will help democratise high-performance, energy-efficient computing across various disciplines.

Objective

Computing has become a key pillar of many areas in society and science. For decades, the ever-increasing complexity of computing systems has been hidden via incremental advances in programming abstractions, compilers and runtimes environments. Underlying these abstractions is the 8-decade old von Neumann Computing (vNC) model. The demise of scaling laws in electronics, however, has sparked disruption in devices and Hardware (HW) architectures, leading to novel Non-von Neumann Computing (NvNC) paradigms. This will bring an era of Extreme Heterogeneous Computing Systems (ExHCSs), combining fundamentally different paradigms, whose complexity can no longer be effectively hidden behind incremental advances in vNC-based programming. COMETH’s goal is to lay the foundation for a new generation of compilers for ExHCSs. With a bottom-up approach, COMETH proposes novel models that generalize over NvNC paradigms. These models will enable a disruptive re-design of HW and compiler abstractions in COMETH, allowing to seamlessly bridge high-level code (e.g. math expressions in Python) and low- level parameters of emerging architectures (e.g. device dimensioning for retention-energy trade-offs). COMETH is organized into three Work Packages (WPs): WP1 focuses on modeling emerging NvNCs systems (Compute-in-Memory (CIM) and quantum-like), WP2 devises a multi-level compiler infrastructure with extensible HW abstractions, and WP3 investigates transformations and code partitioning across computing paradigms. To cope with risks stemming from its speculative nature, COMETH will (1) target paradigms that do not depend on the success of a particular technology, (2) start with the better-understood CIM paradigm, and (3) focus on flexibility to accommodate for upcoming emerging paradigms. COMETH thus greatly contributes to diminishing the barriers that sheer complexity poses to future applications on future systems to democratize high-performance and efficient computing across disciplines.

Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG

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Host institution

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET DRESDEN
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 2 000 000,00
Address
HELMHOLTZSTRASSE 10
01069 DRESDEN
Germany

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Region
Sachsen Dresden Dresden, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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.

€ 2 000 000,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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