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Nvidia’s Quest for the ‘Self-Aware Data Center’

The chip giant’s patent history signals its ideas for the future of the data center.

Photo of a Nvidia patent
Photo via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

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The chip is the powerhouse of the datacenter. But Nvidia may want to have more control. 

A recent Nvidia patent application tackles the cascading effects of errors in data centers with “automatic error prediction.” This tech predicts the likelihood of errors in data center processing units, using multiple machine learning models to monitor the probability of an anomaly both in the short and long term. It allows data center operators to get ahead of potential failures with proactive maintenance to cut downtime.

“They want to ensure the uptime and the predictability – they can’t have their data or processing damaged or halted. That halts their business,” said Trevor Morgan, senior vice president of operations at OpenDrives. This tech turns these facilities into “self-aware data center(s)” as an “insurance policy,” he said. 

Nvidia’s patent history, however, is filled with filings for different kinds of data center architecture, including ways to automate labor, reel in energy costs and keep server farms cooler. This IP grab could do more for the company than just prove thought leadership, said Morgan. 

As it stands, Nvidia is already the king of the AI chip industry, raking in $30.8 billion in data center revenue in the most recent quarter, up 112% from the previous year’s quarter. The company’s prominent place in the  AI landscape, coupled with its vast data center architecture patent portfolio, could give the company sway over the future of these facilities, said Morgan – especially as this IP often touches on data centers’ biggest obstacles: energy usage, efficiency and demand management. 

“[Nvidia] is going to be guiding the best practices,” said Morgan. “They’re not making a full blown tilt into the public cloud space. But they’re touching upon the borders of it.” 

In having control over those best practices, Nvidia could persuade major firms in the cloud space, like Amazon, Microsoft and Google, to “follow its lead” and implement its ideas, edging out chip competitors in the process, Morgan said. “It could be forcing those big players to play along with them.”