NET4EXA aims to develop a next-generation high-performance interconnect for HPC and AI systems, addressing the increasing demands of large-scale infrastructures, such as those required for training Large Language Models. Building upon the proven BXI (Bull eXascale Interconnect) European technology used in TOP15 supercomputers, NET4EXA will deliver the new BXI release, BXIv3, a complete hardware and software interconnect solution, including switch and network interface components. The project will integrate a fully functional pilot system at TRL 8, ready for deployment into upcoming exascale and post-exascale systems from 2025 onward. Leveraging prior research from European initiatives like RED-SEA, the previous achievements of consortium partners and over 20 years of expertise from BULL, NET4EXA also lays the groundwork for the future generation of BXI, BXIv4, providing analysis and preliminary design. The project will use a hybrid development and co-design approach, combining commercial switch technology with custom IP and FPGA-based NICs. Performances of NET4EXA BXIv3 interconnect will be evaluated using a broad portfolio of benchmarks, scientific scalable applications, and AI workloads.

翻译：NET4EXA项目旨在为高性能计算（HPC）和人工智能（AI）系统开发下一代高性能互连技术，以应对大规模基础设施日益增长的需求，例如训练大型语言模型所需的系统。该项目基于已在全球TOP15超级计算机中得到验证的欧洲技术BXI（Bull eXascale Interconnect），将推出全新的BXI版本——BXIv3，这是一个完整的硬件与软件互连解决方案，包含交换机和网络接口组件。项目将集成一个技术就绪水平（TRL）达到8级的全功能试点系统，为2025年及以后即将部署的百亿亿次及后百亿亿次计算系统做好准备。通过借鉴RED-SEA等欧洲先导研究项目的成果、联盟合作伙伴的前期成就以及BULL公司超过20年的专业经验，NET4EXA也为下一代BXI（BXIv4）奠定了基础，提供了相关分析与初步设计。项目将采用混合开发与协同设计方法，结合商用交换机技术与定制IP及基于FPGA的网络接口卡（NIC）。NET4EXA BXIv3互连技术的性能将通过广泛的基准测试组合、可扩展的科学应用以及AI工作负载进行评估。