Superconducting Technology Assessment - nitrd

SUPERCONDUCTIVE RSFQ PROCESSOR
AND MEMORY TECHNOLOGY
The panel concluded that superconductive Rapid Single Flux Quantum (RSFQ) processor technology is ready for an
aggressive, focused investment to meet a 2010 schedule to initiate the development of a petaflops-scale computer.
The panel believes this technology can only be developed with full government funding, since U.S. industry is not
moving in this direction and is unlikely to make significant progress toward this goal if left on its own.
“A credible demonstration of RSFQ readiness must include
at least three things:
– a foundry that produces advanced chips with high yield,
– CAD that yields working chips from competent engineers, and
– output interfaces that send 40 Gbps data from
cold to warm electronics.”
- Dr. Burton J. Smith, Chief Scientist, Cray Corporation
Significant challenges to demonstrating a million-gate, 50-GHz processor with 128 kbyte RAM include:
■ Microarchitecture that effectively utilizes the high clock speed.
■ RSFQ Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools and design optimization.
■ Adequate very-large-scale integration (VLSI) manufacturing capability.
■ Cryogenic testing of high clock rate circuits.
■ Multi-layer high-speed superconducting multi-chip module (MCM) substrates.
■ Adequate cryogenic RAM.
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