arXiv subjects

F. Schifano

Publications and source records attributed to F. Schifano.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Coded masks for imaging of neutrino events

The capture of scintillation light emitted by liquid Argon and Xenon under molecular excitations by charged particles is still a challenging task. Here we present a first attempt to design a device able to grab sufficiently high luminosity in order to reconstruct the path of ionizing particles. This preliminary study is based on the use of masks to encode the light signal combined with single-photon detectors. In this respect, the proposed system is able to detect tracks over focal distances of about tens of centimeters. From numerical simulations it emerges that it is possible to successfully decode and recognize signals, even complex, with a relatively limited number of acquisition channels. Such innovative technique can be very fruitful in a new generation of detectors devoted to neutrino physics and dark matter search. Indeed the introduction of coded masks combined with SiPM detectors is proposed for a liquid-Argon target in the Near Detector of the DUNE experiment.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2009

QPACE -- a QCD parallel computer based on Cell processors

QPACE is a novel parallel computer which has been developed to be primarily used for lattice QCD simulations. The compute power is provided by the IBM PowerXCell 8i processor, an enhanced version of the Cell processor that is used in the Playstation 3. The QPACE nodes are interconnected by a custom, application optimized 3-dimensional torus network implemented on an FPGA. To achieve the very high packaging density of 26 TFlops per rack a new water cooling concept has been developed and successfully realized. In this paper we give an overview of the architecture and highlight some important technical details of the system. Furthermore, we provide initial performance results and report on the installation of 8 QPACE racks providing an aggregate peak performance of 200 TFlops.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2008

Status of the QPACE Project

We give an overview of the QPACE project, which is pursuing the development of a massively parallel, scalable supercomputer for LQCD. The machine is a three-dimensional torus of identical processing nodes, based on the PowerXCell 8i processor. The nodes are connected by an FPGA-based, application-optimized network processor attached to the PowerXCell 8i processor. We present a performance analysis of lattice QCD codes on QPACE and corresponding hardware benchmarks.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2007

QCD on the Cell Broadband Engine

We evaluate IBM's Enhanced Cell Broadband Engine (BE) as a possible building block of a new generation of lattice QCD machines. The Enhanced Cell BE will provide full support of double-precision floating-point arithmetics, including IEEE-compliant rounding. We have developed a performance model and applied it to relevant lattice QCD kernels. The performance estimates are supported by micro- and application-benchmarks that have been obtained on currently available Cell BE-based computers, such as IBM QS20 blades and PlayStation 3. The results are encouraging and show that this processor is an interesting option for lattice QCD applications. For a massively parallel machine on the basis of the Cell BE, an application-optimized network needs to be developed.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2005

Ianus: an Adpative FPGA Computer

Dedicated machines designed for specific computational algorithms can outperform conventional computers by several orders of magnitude. In this note we describe {\it Ianus}, a new generation FPGA based machine and its basic features: hardware integration and wide reprogrammability. Our goal is to build a machine that can fully exploit the performance potential of new generation FPGA devices. We also plan a software platform which simplifies its programming, in order to extend its intended range of application to a wide class of interesting and computationally demanding problems. The decision to develop a dedicated processor is a complex one, involving careful assessment of its performance lead, during its expected lifetime, over traditional computers, taking into account their performance increase, as predicted by Moore's law. We discuss this point in detail.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2003

apeNEXT: A multi-TFlops Computer for Simulations in Lattice Gauge Theory

We present the APE (Array Processor Experiment) project for the development of dedicated parallel computers for numerical simulations in lattice gauge theories. While APEmille is a production machine in today's physics simulations at various sites in Europe, a new machine, apeNEXT, is currently being developed to provide multi-Tflops computing performance. Like previous APE machines, the new supercomputer is largely custom designed and specifically optimized for simulations of Lattice QCD.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2003

Status of the apeNEXT project

We present the current status of the apeNEXT project. Aim of this project is the development of the next generation of APE machines which will provide multi-teraflop computing power. Like previous machines, apeNEXT is based on a custom designed processor, which is specifically optimized for simulating QCD. We discuss the machine design, report on benchmarks, and give an overview on the status of the software development.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2003

The apeNEXT project (Status report)

hep-lat↗

arXiv2001

The APENEXT project

APENEXT is a new generation APE processor, optimized for LGT simulations. The project follows the basic ideas of previous APE machines and develops simple and cheap parallel systems with multi T-Flops processing power. This paper describes the main features of this new development.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2001

Status of APEmille

This paper presents the status of the APEmille project, which is essentially completed, as far as machine development and construction is concerned. Several large installations of APEmille are in use for physics production runs leading to many new results presented at this conference. This paper briefly summarizes the APEmille architecture, reviews the status of the installations and presents some performance figures for physics codes.

hep-lat↗