Journal Article

FZJ-2026-04500

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Scalable construction of spiking neural networks using up to thousands of GPUs

Golosio, B. ; Tiddia, G. (Corresponding author) ; Villamar, J.FZJ* ; Pontisso, L. ; Sergi, L. ; Simula, F. ; Babu, P.FZJ* ; Pastorelli, E. ; Morrison, A.FZJ* ; Diesmann, M.FZJ* ; Lonardo, A. ; Paolucci, P. S. ; Senk, J.FZJ*

2026
IOP Publishing Ltd. Bristol

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1088/2634-4386/ae65d2  doi:10.34734/FZJ-2026-04500

Abstract: Diverse scientific and engineering research areas deal with discrete, time-stamped changes in large systems of interacting delay differential equations. Simulating such complex systems at scale on high-performance computing clusters demands efficient management of communication and memory. Inspired by the human cerebral cortex — a sparsely connected network of $\mathcal{O}(10^{10})$ neurons, each forming $\mathcal{O}(10^{3})$--$\mathcal{O}(10^{4})$ synapses and communicating via short electrical pulses called spikes — we study the simulation of large-scale spiking neural networks for computational neuroscience research. This work presents a novel network construction method for multi-GPU clusters and upcoming exascale supercomputers using the Message Passing Interface (MPI), where each process builds its local connectivity and prepares the data structures for efficient spike exchange across the cluster during state propagation. We demonstrate scaling performance of two cortical models using point-to-point and collective communication, respectively.

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. Computational and Systems Neuroscience (IAS-6)
2. Jülich Supercomputing Center (JSC)
3. Jara-Institut Brain structure-function relationships (INM-10)

Research Program(s):

1. 5232 - Computational Principles (POF4-523) (POF4-523)
2. 5234 - Emerging NC Architectures (POF4-523) (POF4-523)
3. 5235 - Digitization of Neuroscience and User-Community Building (POF4-523) (POF4-523)
4. HBP SGA3 - Human Brain Project Specific Grant Agreement 3 (945539) (945539)
5. EBRAINS 2.0 - EBRAINS 2.0: A Research Infrastructure to Advance Neuroscience and Brain Health (101147319) (101147319)
6. DFG project G:(GEPRIS)491111487 - Open-Access-Publikationskosten / 2025 - 2027 / Forschungszentrum Jülich (OAPKFZJ) (491111487) (491111487)

Appears in the scientific report 2026

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Database coverage:
; ; ; ; Article Processing Charges ; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; DOAJ Seal ; Emerging Sources Citation Index ; Fees ; SCOPUS ; Web of Science Core Collection

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