The Vision for Grus Arch
Rethink the model of computation itself, and build a new, efficient substrate for computers.
Why a new architecture now
Most computers today are built around the idea of following instructions one after another, with layers of caching and speculation bolted on to claw back speed. Yet the structure inside a computation — which step depends on which result — is often lost on the way from software down to hardware.
Grus Arch imagines a computer that puts that dependency structure (the dataflow) at its foundation. If you can see ahead of time what depends on what, you can cut needless waiting and let the parts that are naturally parallel simply run in parallel.
Category: a static-dataflow computer
We aim for a static-dataflow computer grounded in a node-based model of computation. Units of work are expressed as nodes; their dependencies are surveyed statically — before execution — so the whole stack, from software to hardware, can run efficiently and coherently. Our first battleground is the edge and embedded domain, where predictable timing and low power are what count.
What we describe here is vision and direction. The concrete design is still under active R&D, and we will share it in stages at the right time.
Start small, then widen
Grus Arch aims to start in a small, dependable embedded world and widen toward general-purpose computing in time. See the Grus Arch Roadmap for how the work is intended to progress.
From Japan to the world
Cars, robots, factory automation: Japan has long been strong at building machines that move precisely in the real world. Inside those machines, we want to design—in Japan—a computer that supports the control work of reading sensors, deciding and driving motors, with both predictable timing and low power.
In time, we aim to manufacture the chips in Japan as well, making Grus Arch an architecture designed and built entirely in Japan. This is a long-term goal with no set timeline. Today’s prototyping also relies on FPGAs made overseas and on design tools for an overseas open manufacturing process.
As the name—taken from the red-crowned cranes of Hokkaido—suggests, we aim to take flight from Hokkaido to the world.