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Thunderbird's key role in quantum computingEnabling the Quantum Future with Thunderbird
Thunderbird’s key role both now and the future
Thunderbird currently serves as the bridge between classical high-performance computing (HPC) systems and emerging quantum computing (QC) platforms, enabling validation of quantum applications. Unlike traditional HPC simulation codes, which rely on deterministic algorithms written in languages like C/C++ or Python, quantum algorithms require a fundamentally different approach—developers must construct quantum circuits tailored to QC architectures.
By nature, quantum systems are probabilistic, capable of existing in superposed states. To ensure accuracy, Thunderbird runs HPC simulations in parallel with their quantum counterparts, using its deterministic architecture to provide a “ground truth” reference. This concurrent execution supports validation of quantum results and helps identify when quantum advantage begins to emerge.
Thunderbird enhances this process with accelerated HPC pre-processing, AI-driven orchestration, and efficient post-processing. These capabilities are leveraged up to the “jump-off point”—the threshold where problem sizes exceed classical HPC scalability (currently around 54 qubits) and quantum results become trustworthy.
Looking ahead, as QC systems overcome current limitations in noise and reliability, they will be ready for production deployment. Experts anticipate a hybrid HPC+QC workflow, where Quantum Processing Units (QPUs) act as specialized accelerators within existing HPC environments, delivering net CAPEX/OPEX benefits for targeted workloads.
Initial applications for this hybrid model include:
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Drug discovery: Accelerating breakthroughs in medicine during time-critical scenarios (“urgent computing”)
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Materials design: Enabling rapid innovation in next-generation critical materials
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Logistics optimization: Reducing costs through smarter forecasting, scheduling, and resource allocation
Now: accelerate QC development
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Bridge to QC
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Ground truth to validate QC results
Future: QC augments HPC systems
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Hybrid HPC+QC workflow
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Digital HPC pre-processing
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Control / observability
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AI automation / optimization
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QC execution
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HPC analysis & post-processing
Now: Thunderbird bridges the gap to quantum computing
HPC provides “ground truth” for validating quantum results
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Versatile all-CPU architecture applicable to all HPC-AI software, much of which does not benefit from GPUs
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High precision, high performance, low power 64-bit native processors to solve “big math” problems required by most HPC software
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Thunderbird runs the “ground truth” physics-based HPC simulation codes in parallel with quantum algorithms as validation due to their very different programming model
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…up to “jump-off” point where problem size exceeds scale of classical digital HPC systems
Future: Thunderbird key to quantum computing in production
Hybrid HPC+QC workflow – augmenting – not replacing
MISSION
Setting new standards of performance, energy efficiency, versatility, and ease of programming
InspireSemi provides revolutionary high-performance, energy-efficient accelerated computing solutions for High-Performance Computing (HPC), AI, graph analytics, and other compute-intensive workloads. The Thunderbird “supercomputer-cluster-on-a-chip” is a disruptive, next-generation datacenter accelerator designed to address multiple underserved and diversified industries, including financial services, computer-aided engineering, energy, climate modeling, and life sciences & drug discovery. Based on the open standard RISC-V instruction set architecture, InspireSemi’s solutions leverage an established and thriving software ecosystem.
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