Preliminary Design Planning for the Leadership-Class Computing Facility

在过去的几十年里，计算和数据科学在推进发现方面的作用大大增加。 NSF在科学研究的这种转变中发挥了核心作用，作为开创性研究活动的资助者，并作为使用高性能计算（HPC）的领导者，基于计算的方法现在成为科学和工程（SE）不同领域研究的核心。 美国国家科学基金会领导级计算设施（LCCF）计划旨在提供独特的服务和资源，使发现在最大和最计算密集的科学和工程研究前沿，否则无法推进。 该奖项支持在成功完成概念设计（CD）后与LCCF初步设计（PD）相关的设计和规划活动。LCCF项目提出了一个先进的计算设施，使发现在所有领域的S E需要领先的计算能力，提供一个设施，不仅将处理非常大的挑战，在S E模拟，而且在人工智能（AI），以及分析数据的实验和观测设施。 为了实现这一目标，LCCF项目将提供一个名为Horizon的大规模计算平台，其解决方案能力将是NSF当前最大系统（Frontera）的十倍，以及一个完整的环境，用于管理整个研究生命周期的数据。LCCF还将提供软件环境，支持服务和培训，以确保研究人员能够有效地使用该设施，以最大限度地提高科学发现过程的影响。 教育和公共推广的广泛计划也计划，其中包括为学生，教师和家长开发现有的高影响力的正式学习计划，以及建设一个非正式的学习环境，这将是LCCF的一部分，称为Computarium。 项目设计过程将继续执行项目协调委员会的许多活动，但重点是充分改进项目计划和估算，以便做出重要的决策。 重要的PD目标是为设施进行最终选址，将科学用例细化为具有定义的性能指标增加的具体应用目标，并选择Horizon系统架构的总体方向。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Over the past decades, the role of computational and data science in advancing discovery has increased tremendously. NSF has played a central role in this transformation of scientific research as a funder of pioneering research activities and as a leader in enabling the use of High-Performance Computing (HPC), with Computation-based methods now becoming central to research in diverse areas of Science and Engineering (S&E). The NSF leadership-class computing facility (LCCF) program is intended to provide unique services and resources to enable discoveries in the largest and most computationally intensive S&E research frontiers that could not advance otherwise. This award supports the design and planning activities associated with the Preliminary Design (PD) of LCCF after successful completion of Conceptual Design (CD). The LCCF project proposes an advanced computing facility to enable discoveries in all fields of S&E requiring leadership computing capabilities, delivering a facility that will not only deal with the very largest challenges in S&E simulation, but also in Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as the analysis of data from experimental and observational facilities. To deliver this goal, the LCCF project will provide a large-scale computing platform, called Horizon, with a ten-fold increase in the time-to-solution capability of the NSF's current largest system (Frontera), as well as a complete environment for managing data throughout the research lifecycle. The LCCF will also provide a software environment, supporting services, and training to ensure that researchers can effectively use the facility for maximum impact to enhance the scientific discovery process. Extensive plans for Education and Public Outreach are also planned which includes developing existing high impact formal learning programs for students, teachers, and parents, as well as construction for an informal learning environment that will be part of LCCF called the Computarium. The PD process will continue many of the activities from CD, but with a focus on improving the project plans and estimates sufficiently to make important decisions moving forward. Important PD goals are to make the final site selection for the facility, refine the science use cases into specific application targets with defined Figure of Merit performance increases, and choose the general direction of the Horizon system architecture.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.