High-speed computing network a strategic project

Editor's note: Qiushi Journal recently published an article by Liu Yunjie, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the chief scientist of the Purple Mountain Laboratories. The article outlines a vision for China to develop a "computing high-speed railway". Below are excerpts of the article. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

Imagine there is a network of invisible "high-speed trains" all around you, carrying not people or goods but computing power and data. As computing power becomes integral to the digital economy and artificial intelligence reshapes the global competitive landscape, China needs to build a "computing high-speed railway" covering the entire country.

Supported by high-speed networks, this "railway" will link those who supply computing power and data to those in need, facilitating cross-regional allocation and collaboration of computing resources. It will ensure that computing power reaches destinations safely, punctually and efficiently just like passengers on high-speed trains.

In February 2022, China launched the "east data, west computing" project. Since then, it has established eight national computing hubs and 10 national computing clusters covering 14 provincial-level administrative regions in eastern and western China. However, extensive computing capacity alone does not guarantee efficiency. The key lies in fully activating and utilizing these computing resources. Computing power is like goods, and networks are like highways. Congested highways will prevent goods from being delivered.

Currently, China's computing power development faces certain challenges. To address them, we can implement a strategy of "building networks to boost computing power". This involves connecting scattered computing resources through high-performance networks to overcome the constraints of single-node computing power, enabling efficient collaboration, aggregation and allocation. This way computing resources nationwide will be integrated, effectively creating an enormous supercomputer system.

Compared with other countries, China has unique strengths in developing a computing high-speed railway. It can mobilize resources for top-level design, uniform planning and cross-regional coordination of computing power, networks and energy infrastructure. With its advanced network infrastructure and diverse industrial application scenarios for AI, China is well-positioned. The country's development of deterministic networking — a computer network that guarantees data will travel from its source to its destination within a strictly defined and predictable time limit — and optoelectronic integration technologies forms another advantage.

To develop the computing high-speed railway, we should adhere to the principles of "high-speed interconnection, efficient allocation, openness, inclusiveness, security and reliability". Initially, the "railway network" should cover big and mid-sized cities in the country, gradually expanding to other regions.

Continued efforts are required to implement the country's top-level planning and accelerate the development of an integrated computing network nationwide. The country should fully utilize its scientific and technological facilities, such as the China Environment for Network Innovation, to better promote the high-quality development of AI.

Telecommunications operators and network equipment companies should be encouraged to boost R&D and innovation in AI and play a bigger role in constructing the computing high-speed railway. In addition, the support of the financial sector is also important for the sound and rapid development of the railway.