European Commission offers funding for CPU efficiency projects

The European Commission has put forward a plan to encourage the development of computer processors with a significantly improved performance-per-watt (PPW), offering funding for creation of viable prototypes.

Speaking during the HiPEAC Autumn 2016 Computing Systems Week event in Dublin, the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content, and Technology for the European Commission's Sandro D'Elia revealed that the European Union's Horizon 2020 research programme would start offering funding to businesses working in the field of high-efficiency computing. 'We’re looking for innovative processor designs orientated to high performance computing, which is very important to European industry, D'Elia told attendees. 'The European Commission wants Europe to avail of a new family of processors with a significantly better energy-to-performance ratio compared to current offerings, specifically tailored for high-performance, low-power server-side applications.'

Dubbed ICT-05-2017: Customised and Low Energy Computing, the programme will offer funding without imposing specific technical solutions upon applicants. In other words, companies are free to work on improving the performance-per-watt (PPW) of processors in any way they see fit, from novel architectures to quantum computing. They will, however, be required to submit a working prototype before the project's end, which excludes those working in purely theoretical fields.

More information on the Horizon 2020 project, which has a total of €80 billion in funding to offer over the next six years in a range of fields, can be found on the official website.