Country for PR: China
Contributor: PR Newswire Asia (China)
Wednesday, December 04 2019 - 01:55
AsiaNet
Huawei and PCL Build Cloud Brain II, Embarking on a New Chapter for AI Clusters at 1000 PFLOPS Scale
SHENZHEN, China, Dec. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

- PCL Selects the Huawei Atlas 900 AI Cluster, Gearing Up for a Boost to the 
Kunpeng Computing Industry

On November 29, 2019, Huawei and Peng Cheng Laboratory (PCL) jointly released 
Peng Cheng Cloud Brain II Phase 1, officially launching the journey to AI 
clusters at 1000 petaFLOPS (PFLOPS) scale. This marks a new milestone in the 
scientific research field for the Kunpeng computing industry. Running at the 
bedrock of Cloud Brain II is the Huawei Atlas 900 AI cluster, powered by the 
Huawei Kunpeng and Ascend processors. Atlas 900 infuses robust computing power 
into Cloud Brain II, supporting basic research and exploration in the AI field, 
such as computer vision, natural language, autonomous driving, smart 
transportation, and smart healthcare. The computing power of Peng Cheng Cloud 
Brain is currently 100 PFLOPS, planned to scale to 1000 PFLOPS and higher next 
year.

https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20191203/2659308-1-a
Hou Jinlong (left), Senior VP of Huawei, and President of Huawei Cloud & AI 
Products and Services and Gao Wen (Right), Director of Peng Cheng Lab, in the 
launch ceremony

"This September, Huawei embarked on the Kunpeng + Ascend dual-engine computing 
strategy. Inspired by this strategy, we are committed to providing the ultimate 
computing power to the world. We also released Atlas 900, the world's fastest 
AI training cluster," said Hou Jinlong, Senior VP of Huawei, and President of 
Huawei Cloud & AI Products and Services.

"Today, we're proud to see Atlas 900 selected for the Peng Cheng Cloud Brain II 
project. It lays the cornerstones for Cloud Brain II. Cloud Brain II is an 
industry-leading AI research platform. PCL has brought together many 
academicians and AI research talents. Huawei will join PCL in spearheading 
forefront scientific research for an intelligent world," Hou added.

Hou also said, "Right now we are building Cloud Brain II Phase 1. I believe 
that, with our joint effort, this will pave the way to a Cloud Brain II at 1000 
PFLOPS scale in the near future. We are confident that it will become a 
world-leading AI research platform."

Michael Ma, President of Huawei's Intelligent Computing Business Dept, said, 
"Huawei builds the Atlas AI computing platform based on the Ascend processors, 
providing a broad portfolio of modules, cards, edge stations, AI servers, and 
clusters. Our all-scenario AI infrastructure covers the cloud-edge-device, 
supporting full-pipeline inference and training for deep learning."

"Our flagship Atlas product, Atlas 900, stands as the pinnacle of AI computing 
in the world. The combination of Atlas 900 and Cloud Brain II will embark on a 
new chapter for AI clusters at 1000 PFLOPS scale, and unlock superb computing 
power to drive faster intelligent transformation across industries," said Ma.

https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20191203/2659308-1-b 
Michael Ma, President of Huawei’s Intelligent Computing Business Dept, 
introducing Atlas 900

Peng Cheng Cloud Brain is a key technology facility in the field of AI. It is a 
basic research platform for exploring the frontier of AI technology. Currently 
it boasts an AI computing power of 100 PFLOPS, and is expected to reach 1000 
PFLOPS scale in the Cloud Brain II project next year.

Cloud Brain II is jointly built by PCL and Huawei. Running on Huawei Kunpeng 
and Ascend processors, the Atlas 900 AI cluster provides superior computing 
power. PCL develops Cloud Brain technologies at 1000 PFLOPS.

The Atlas 900 AI cluster has inherited Huawei's technology know-how of over a 
decade. Composed of thousands of Ascend 910 AI processors, Atlas 900 completes 
training of a ResNet image classification model in 59.8s, 10 seconds faster 
than the previous world record at the same precision. The powerful computing 
capability of Atlas 900 delivers a difference in scientific research and 
technology innovation, such as astronomical exploration, weather forecasting, 
autonomous driving, and oil exploration. Atlas 900 highlights:
-	Powerful computing: Combining thousands of Ascend 910 AI processors, Atlas 
900 delivers 256–1024 PFLOPS at half precision (FP16), which equals the 
computing power of 500,000 PCs. The SoC design integrates AI computing, 
general-purpose computing, and I/O functionality to effectively improve 
training efficiency. 
-	High-speed cluster network: It supports three types of high-speed network 
interfaces: Huawei Cache Coherence System (HCCS), PCIe 4.0, and 100G RoCE, 
slashing the gradient synchronization latency by 10% to 70% for a leap in model 
training efficiency. It leverages an innovative iLossless intelligent switching 
algorithm to enable real-time learning and training of network-wide traffic, 
achieving zero packet loss and end-to-end latency of microseconds. 
-	Ultimate heat dissipation: Atlas 900 uses a cabinet-level contained adiabatic 
system, achieving a liquid cooling ratio over 95% and a system power usage 
effectiveness (PUE) less than 1.1 (an ideal PUE is 1.0).

Up to now, based on the Ascend 910 and 310 AI processors, Huawei has launched 
the Atlas 900 AI cluster, Atlas 800 AI server, Atlas 500 AI edge station, Atlas 
300 AI accelerator card, and Atlas 200 AI accelerator module. The holistic 
Atlas portfolio provides powerful computing for training and inference in all 
scenarios across cloud-edge-device.

Looking ahead, Huawei will continue to step up investment and innovation in 
infrastructure such as processors, operating systems, and databases for the 
Kunpeng computing industry, and provide AI computing for Peng Cheng Cloud 
Brain, together bringing AI technology faster to reality for a wider scope of 
application.

SOURCE: Huawei

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=352777

   Caption: Hou Jinlong (left), Senior VP of Huawei, and President of Huawei 
Cloud & AI Products and Services and Gao Wen (Right), Director of Peng Cheng 
Lab, in the launch ceremony

   Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=352780

   Caption: Michael Ma, President of Huawei’s Intelligent Computing Business 
Dept, introducing Atlas 900

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