The use of supercomputer-assisted product R&D has become a common choice for many giant manufacturers. Gree is no exception. To address the computational needs of the simulation R&D platform, Zhuhai Gree Electric Co., Ltd. (GREE) decided to establish its own supercomputing center. High-performance cluster computing resources simulation simulation environment, accelerate product development time cycle.
At the beginning of the Gree Construction Supercomputing Center platform, after a number of technical evaluations and biddings, and finally based on the comprehensive considerations of the comprehensive strength of supercomputing technology, project application experience, and service professionalism, we finally selected Inspur high-performance computing cluster solutions. Project. 'Geli Computer Center Minister Ke Dong said in an interview to the China State Grid reporter.
Gree Computer Center Minister Ke Dong
The original stand-alone CAE calculation can no longer meet the R&D speed and quality requirements
As one of the earliest domestic appliance manufacturers that used CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) technology in product R&D, Gree Electric used CAE for single PC to meet R&D in the early stage of technology accumulation. Speed and quality requirements. With the maturity and growing size of Gree's technology system, the company's technological innovation capability has entered the stage from 'quantity change' to 'quality change', and the speed of technological innovation has also increased. However, it is limited by decentralized Computing resources, many of the technical ideas and solutions proposed by R&D personnel want to use CAE for simulation analysis. They have to be verified in a 'queue' manner. The lack of computing power also makes the simulation analysis process unbearable.
It is reported that the use of Gree's CAE technology currently covers key areas such as air-conditioning fans, wind blades, duct flow field, vibration noise, strength, durability, collision and protection, pipe heat exchange and mold flow channels, electromagnetic interference and centrifugal systems. Said that the wide application of CAE technology has played a crucial role for Gree to master the core technology, gain market share, and establish the leading position in the industry.
Prior to the establishment of the Supercomputer Center, Gree's original CAE simulation process was performed using stand-alone equipment, but the stand-alone equipment had limited computing power, making the simulation process only possible at a relatively coarse grained level. The computing performance of the hardware equipment became The bottleneck of the company to further improve the quality of product research and development. At the same time, a large number of CAE software stand-alone operation, also brought about the repeated construction of hardware equipment, system maintenance difficulties, management and other issues are more difficult.
'Beginning in 2013, Gree's CAE simulation was calculated on a two- or four-way server that was previously purchased, and some users could not use it when they migrated to an external network,' Huang Lijun, director of Gree's software application department, told reporters since then. Gree has been thinking about ways to improve simulation computing capabilities. Based on the security factors that the company has always emphasized, it does not hire people outside or it needs to get out of the calculations. The company has its own technology and has not applied for it. Before the patent and the product was not formally released, all R&D processes were confidential. Under this reason, Gree considered itself to solve the problem of various simulation computing capabilities and decided to form its own supercomputing center.
Huang Yujun, Director of Software Application Department, Gree Computing Center
TS10000 High Performance Computing Cluster Helps Gree Product Development
In response to the computational needs of the Gree hypercomputing center for simulation applications, the Inspur team of experts presented the TS10000 high-performance computing cluster solution. By emulating the construction of the supercomputer center platform, the computational efficiency of Gree's simulation applications was effectively improved, while the operation and maintenance were reduced. cost.
Liu Zhiyong, general manager of Inspur Corporate Promotion Department, stated that Inspur provided HPC high-performance clusters and workstation clusters in the overall construction plan. 'After the two are unified, the computing performance of the super-computing center can be realized through software and hardware tuning services. To the extreme, at the same time, a combination of fat and thin servers is used as a computing node to provide data storage with the mainstream parallel file storage in the industry, and provides powerful computing and storage support for different user simulation requirements. The characteristics of these products and the advantages of the solution determine The entire solution provided by Inspur is very suitable for Gree's simulation application scenarios.
Liu Chao, General Manager of Inspur Enterprises Promotion Department
At present, after two phases of construction, Gree’s Supercomputing Center has achieved a total computing power of more than one billion times, CAE’s computing speed has increased by 300%, new product development cycles have been reduced by approximately 10%, and CAE application levels have increased significantly. The center integrated Gree's universal simulation application calculations, greatly reducing the daily operation and maintenance, reducing the operation and maintenance costs, and improving the overall operation and maintenance efficiency by more than 50%.
Gree Computer Center
According to China National Grid, Inspur Tissot TS10000 high-performance computing clusters have been officially applied to Gree's air-conditioning fans, wind blades, duct flow field, vibration noise, strength, durability, collision and protection, pipe heat exchange and mold flow Road, Electromagnetic Interference, Centrifugal System and other aspects of the simulation analysis, help Gree developed a more humane, high-quality, intelligent products.
Not just the super-computing center under the diversified layout of air-conditioning
Chairman of the Gree Electric Appliances Dong Mingzhu once said: 'I hope everyone will sit in Gree's car, call Gree's mobile phone, control the temperature of air conditioners at home, and enjoy the delicious food Gree will bring to you. 'Whether it is due to the increasing volume of the air conditioner market. Nearly saturated, or to cope with the changing needs of the market, Miss Dong began to say that Gree entered the era of pluralism, and its diversification strategy has been opened.
The competition for technology patents is a typical 'zero-sum game'. Who can take the lead in completing the research and development of technologies and patent applications, who will be able to build barriers to patents that are difficult to break through, and establish a huge competitive advantage. Gree is always committed to mastering core technologies. In terms of electrical appliances, the speed of innovation is as important as the ability to innovate, and the construction of a supercomputer center is undoubtedly a big boost in terms of Gree’s diversified layout.
According to Huang Yujun, after the expansion of the construction of the supercomputing center last year, the overall computing capacity has reached 110TFLOPS. Other areas, including the development of Gree Life Appliance, are already using supercomputer resources.
Gree Computer Center
As for the in-depth cooperation between the future wave and Gree, Liu Zhiyong stated that there are many possibilities for cooperation in the fields of assembly lines, machinery and equipment, cloud platforms, or other IT services. 'With Gree's diversified development layout, the future possibilities are too high. Big '.
Gree has always stressed that 'let the world fall in love with China', and the proposal of the 'China Made 2025' national strategy will undoubtedly provide more room for Gree's future development. The construction of information infrastructure such as the Supercomputing Center is a research and development of Gree's simulation intelligence. The product diversification layout provides a great boost. Based on this, we continuously develop and introduce diversified products and support the adjustment of market strategy. Gree Electric always insists on independent innovation, masters core technology, continuously improves the level of Chinese manufacturing, and makes the world love Made in China!