Pico (supercomputer)

Pico is a small-scale supercomputer developed by the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) in Germany. It serves as a prototype and testbed for future supercomputing architectures and technologies. Pico is not intended to be a production machine for general scientific computing but rather a platform for research and development activities.

Specifically, Pico is used to explore and evaluate innovative processor technologies, memory systems, and interconnection networks. The goal is to gain insights into the performance characteristics and scalability of these emerging technologies before their integration into larger-scale supercomputer systems. Researchers utilize Pico to develop and optimize software tools, programming models, and application codes for these novel architectures.

Pico allows for controlled experimentation and analysis of different hardware and software configurations. This is crucial for understanding the complex interactions between various components in a high-performance computing environment. The insights gained from Pico contribute to the design and development of more efficient and powerful supercomputers in the future.