Anton massive ASIC machine tackles the molecular

The unique requirements of protein simulation drive a new approach to supercomputers known as Anton. Named after microscope inventor Anton van Leeuwenhoek, the machine combines 512 ASIC parallel processors dedicated to the task of calculating 3D molecule interactions.

The machine was devised and sponsored, writes the NYTimes’ John Markoff, by D.E. Shaw, founder of D.E. Shaw & Co., an investment firm that specializes in computer-based trade modeling. The formal news of the new system, still in development, appeared in Communications of the ACM. [The latest issue of the ACM marks a very deliberate effort to revive the stalwart publication.]

Alternatives to Anton include IBM’s Gene/L supercomputer and the Folding@home [like Seti@home] project. Anton brings to light the hegemony of general-purpose supercomputing [read: massive off the shelf computing] that marked the end of the Cold War. Specialized and down-right weird computers were more prevalent before the latest run-up of Moore’s Law in the commercial sector. Back in the day there was a fairly wide variety of array processors, DSP accelerators, vector machines and so on. All outside the ken of CISCs and RISCs.

More extensive simulation may mean faster time to market for very important cancer trials. Or maybe not. But one hopes it means something good.