Is China's computational infrastructure abundant or insufficient? At the recent "Three-Dimensional Computing Hunan Tour" launch event in Changsha hosted by Sugon, Mr. Ren Jingyang, Senior Vice President of Sugon, raised this question.
"Some worry that there isn't enough computational power and advocate for increased construction, while others wonder if all the computational power being built can be fully utilized. These two contrasting voices in the market indicate an increasing attention and anticipation for computational power to truly transform into digital productivity," said Ren Jingyang.
Computational power is undoubtedly the "new productive force" of the digital economy. However, in the face of complex and emerging computational demands, computational power still faces many challenges on its path to becoming productive.
The Persistent Uniqueness of Computational Power
The term "computational power" wasn't popular a few years ago; many only became aware of it during the "mining boom."
In recent years, the demand for computational power has exploded in fields such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and graphic rendering. Especially with the rise of large model technologies, computational power has become a crucial factor driving the development of these technologies, and nearly every industry needs it. Concern for computational power has become commonplace.
However, computational power still remains "uncommon," primarily in its applications. The concept of "grid computing" proposed in the 1990s envisioned computational power being as readily available as hydroelectric power. Though more computational power is being used today, we still have a long way to go to realize this vision.
Why is this the case?
"Mainly it's about demand. Nowadays, the demands for computation across various industries have become much more complex than before, and the gap between computational power and its applications has not been effectively bridged," Ren Jingyang told Science China.
From the supply side, there are issues in the "construction, usage, and ecosystem" dimensions of computational power supply. For instance, in construction, there are problems like prioritizing scale, having a single architecture, focusing more on computing than storage, and favoring hardware over software. At the application layer, there are issues with the disconnect between technical development and scenario demands, as well as the problem of reinventing the wheel. The ecosystem level has long suffered from insufficient compatibility and collaboration.
From the demand side, users' needs for computational power are becoming increasingly complex and diverse. Ren Jingyang explained that today, the connection between computational power and various industries is much closer, and industries are filled with more expectations for computational empowerment. However, from the perspective of computational service providers, the application of computational power increasingly needs to consider covering the needs of various industries, covering the needs of the entire industry lifecycle, and covering the needs of "dual advancement" in advanced computing.
"Three-Dimensional Computing," Moderately Forward-Looking
Facing the new demand to "accelerate the development of new productive forces," Sugon has proposed a new concept called "Three-Dimensional Computing."
"Sticking to old methods won't meet new challenges," Ren Jingyang said. To address complex computational demands, it's necessary to use three-dimensional thinking and technology to promote a strong synergy and integrated development in the "construction, usage, and ecosystem" dimensions, forming a three-dimensional and brand-new computing system.
He explained that the concept of three-dimensional computing emphasizes building a comprehensive development of applications based on multidimensional computational resources, empowering integrated value symbiosis, releasing the three-dimensional benefits of the computing industry, with the goal of accelerating the transformation of computational power into productivity, thereby releasing the development potential of various industries and regions, ultimately driving the development of the digital economy and enabling it to empower various industries.
It must be said that the concept of three-dimensional computing—providing flexible and scalable computing resources and services to meet the needs of different users and industries—is in line with the long-brewing concept of CaaS (Compute as a Service). In other words, the idea of three-dimensional computing is not only bold but also somewhat forward-looking.
However, being "moderately forward-looking" is precisely the new proposition that the current new infrastructure of computational power needs to fulfill. This year's government work report proposes to moderately advance the construction of digital infrastructure and accelerate the formation of a national integrated computational power system. Furthermore, how to be "moderately forward-looking" has become a widely discussed topic in the industry.
Ren Jingyang systematically elaborated on the systematic concepts in the three dimensions of "construction, usage, and ecosystem."
In the construction dimension, amid the wave of computational construction, computing centers across the country are about to usher in a "new era." "Making computational equipment and centers more efficient is imperative," he believes. In the construction of new computational power, it is necessary to layout computational infrastructure from three aspects: emphasizing diversified computational power production, realizing cross-border computational power mobilization, and providing comprehensive computational services.
In the application dimension, computational centers need to change their past "inertia" of being born for research or specific applications and transform into comprehensive and public computational platforms. The so-called public computational platforms require them to empower all industries, deeply integrate with applications, and provide on-demand services without blind spots. Ren Jingyang explained that this involves extremely complex technical issues such as data processing, computational deployment, application monitoring, and optimization evaluation, which need to be comprehensively observed throughout the entire process and cycle.
The ecological dimension faces even more complex and challenging issues. Sugon believes that the computational ecosystem should be both diverse and open. Therefore, the establishment of public platforms not only involves simple computational provision but also covers issues such as compatibility of technical routes and the cultivation of different types of computational talents. This requires more deployment in the integration of "industry, academia, and research," with industrial collaboration being particularly important.
The concept of Sugon's three-dimensional computing and the brand-new computing system it aims to build have provided an answer to "how to be moderately forward-looking."
Accelerating the Transformation of Computational Power into New Productive Forces
Less than 200 meters away from the "Three-Dimensional Computing Hunan Tour" launch event in Changsha is the "Silicon Cube" immersive liquid-cooled computer located in the 5A-level Smart Computing Center, quietly operating at high speed. On this machine, the core computational units of the computer are immersed in transparent cooling liquid, and bubbles rising up carry away the heat generated by the equipment, just as thousands of applications remain unaware of the existence of computational power.
Exterior photo of the 5A Smart Computing Center in Changsha. Image provided by Sugon.
This is precisely the profound implementation of Sugon's concept of "three-dimensional computing." Starting from the bottom-up architecture, the Changsha 5A Smart Computing Center has bridged core technology systems, realizing the coexistence of multiple technological routes. This allows for the formation of diverse integrated computing power supplies to meet the full spectrum of AI demands while significantly improving compatibility and energy efficiency. It provides computing power, algorithms, data, and software support for various industries, widely applied in fields such as meteorology, life sciences, energy exploration, and industrial simulation.
Currently, the Changsha 5A Smart Computing Center has been integrated into the "National Integrated Computing Power Service Platform" and will strive to promote the coordinated scheduling of computing power, algorithms, data, and other resources. This aims to achieve end-to-end full-stack computing power production, delivery, and application support services.
Next, Sugon's "Three-Dimensional Computing Hunan Tour" will start from Changsha and extend to the entire province of Hunan, replicating the three-dimensional computing model in more regions. This will continuously unleash three-dimensional effects, accelerate computing power transformation, and promote the rapid development of computing power production, computing services, and the integration of computing networks.
"We sincerely hope that through the 'construction, usage, and ecological' three-dimensional thinking, computing power can truly be transformed into new productive forces," said Ren Jingyang.
