20th November, 2019 – At Supercomputing 2019, Intel unveiled its vision for extending its leadership in the convergence of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) with new additions to its data-centric silicon portfolio and an ambitious new software initiative that represents a paradigm shift from today’s single-architecture, single-vendor programming models.
Addressing the increasing use of heterogeneous architectures in high-performance computing, Intel expanded on its existing technology portfolio to move, store and process data more effectively by announcing a new category of discrete general-purpose GPUs optimized for AI and HPC convergence. Intel also launched the oneAPI industry initiative to deliver a unified and simplified programming model for application development across heterogenous processing architectures, including CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs and other accelerators. The launch of oneAPI represents millions of Intel engineering hours in software development and marks a game-changing evolution from today’s limiting, proprietary programming approaches to an open standards-based model for cross-architecture developer engagement and innovation.
“HPC and AI workloads demand diverse architectures, ranging from CPUs, general-purpose GPUs and FPGAs, to more specialized deep-learning NNPs, which Intel demonstrated earlier this month,” said Raja Koduri, senior vice president, chief architect, and general manager of architecture, graphics and software at Intel. “Simplifying our customers’ ability to harness the power of diverse computing environments is paramount, and Intel is committed to taking a software-first approach that delivers a unified and scalable abstraction for heterogeneous architectures.”
oneAPI: A Developer-Centric Approach to Heterogeneous Computing
The oneAPI initiative Intel launched today will define programming for an increasingly AI-infused, multi-architecture world. oneAPI delivers a unified and open programming experience to developers on the architecture of their choice without compromising performance and eliminating the complexity of separate code bases, multiple-programming languages, and different tools and workflows. oneAPI preserves existing software investments with support for existing languages while delivering flexibility for developers to create versatile applications.
oneAPI includes both an industry initiative based on open specifications and an Intel beta product. The oneAPI specification includes a direct programming language, powerful APIs and a low-level hardware interface. Intel’s oneAPI beta software provides developers a comprehensive portfolio of developer tools that include compilers, libraries and analyzers, packaged into domain-focused toolkits. The initial oneAPI beta release targets Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, Intel® Core™ processors with integrated graphics, and Intel® FPGAs, with additional hardware support to follow in future releases. Developers can download the oneAPI tools, test drive them in the Intel oneAPI DevCloud, and learn more about oneAPI at http://software.intel.com/oneAPI.
