IBM, Sony, and Toshiba unveil "Cell" Processor

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IBM, Sony, Toshiba Demonstrate Cell Processor.
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I don't know about you guys but I can't wait to see what this baby can do performance wise when compared to the fastest CPU's from Intel and AMD. One thing's for sure though, the PS3 Will be a Processing MONSTER!!

i just wanna see the cell processor inside my PC not inside of a playstation3

Pity the search facilities for these forums do not work properly,

cause there was a different thread somewhere here about that chip yesterday, I wanted to see what else if anything had been added to it.

Someone had said there could be memory problems with it,

and I was thinking that might not be the case because the PS3 is intended for network use, so will perhaps be operating more like bit torrent.

Later on I thought it would work like shell computers for online do - hence would also not need as much high-spec as may be expected. But I didn't post that bit. Until now.


I also mentioned that if you want big number crunching, then you're not really looking in the right place. Most commercial applications thesedays are to make the same stuff smaller in size, but perform as well or better.
If you increased the sizes of processors then obviously you can fit more tracks onto them, stuff like that. Or try Germanium chips instead of Silicon.

I personally think the "CELL" will be hard to beat,sony and toshiba are putting it in everything from TV's,cellphones,handhelds,laptops,servers,not to mention the playstation3, by doing that it will lower the cost of producing this chip dramatically.The "Cell" will be ten times more powerful then todays best chips and could be up to ten times cheaper.Sure the Cell might be a year away and AMD or Intel might be able to come close in power to the CELL but I can't see them coming close in price.
I wonder if AMD or Intel will bust because of this?

I wonder if the playstation 3 will be able to run real life graphics?

This might be one reason IBM is selling its pc division.

Couple this with wireless mesh networks and just think of all the applications for this technology.

Couple this with wireless mesh networks and just think of all the applications for this technology.

You are right about that! This is the future of computing opening right before our eyes, and with the rumors of this chip working in conjunction with other cells, we better watch out for skynet!

yes...

i have a thread like this on BTS in the video games forum...

anyway, i cannot wait 'till PS3 comes out (maybe late this year)...

PS3 could out perform x-box 2 sources say...

Originally posted by vertexc
i just wanna see the cell processor inside my PC not inside of a playstation3

The Wierd thing is I dont think they have any plans to use this chip in PCs. I was watching ScreenSavers and a girl said the same thing about forget the PS3 I want that in my PC.

It was pretty cool they should a disk crammed with a whole bunch of those chips.

But Cell isn't meant just for fun and games. It's also intended for professional graphics workstations and other computing devices, which makes people wonder what kind of magic will be bottled in the chips," Tom Halfhill, a senior analyst with semiconductor research firm In-Stat wrote in a newsletter issued last week.

IBM said the Cell chip is a multi-thread, multicore architecture that will support multiple operating systems, including Windows, Unix and Linux, as well as real-time consumer electronics and game operating systems. The chipmakers said they are also confident the chip can tackle multi-channel high-definition broadcast programs, as well as mega pixel digital still and movie images captured by high-resolution CCD/CMOS imagers.

Built using 90 nanometer silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, the Cell chip will also have substantial bus bandwidth to and from the main memory; a flexible on-chip I/O (input/output) interface; real-time resource management system for real-time applications; on-chip hardware in support of security system for intellectual property protection; and energy saving technology.

Memory chipmaker Rambus (Quote, Chart) said IBM and partners will use its XDR memory and FlexIO processor bus interface hardware. The company said the memory and processor bus interfaces designed by Rambus account for 90 percent of the Cell processor signal pins, providing an unprecedented aggregate processor I/O bandwidth of approximately 100 gigabytes-per-second.

Halfhill said consumer applications are just the tip of the iceberg for the Cell uses. After a thorough analysis of the patents issued for the Cell chip by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Halfhill said the processor has the potential to be very disruptive.

"We believe the 'new programming model' is a way of binding program code and data together in special bundles, perhaps as part of a new instruction-set architecture (ISA)," Halfhill said. "The '734 patent describes a much larger register file and other novel architectural features not found in any PowerPC chips today. If Cell isn't a wholly new architecture, it may at least be a significant extension of PowerPC.

Halfhill said the name Cell derives from the architecture's "software cells," which combine program code, data, global identification numbers, and other metadata in formatted bundles.

"Software cells can freely migrate in search of execution resources -- whether those resources are in a single chip, spread across multiple chips in a system, or distributed across multiple systems on a local or global network," Halfhill said. "With the Cell architecture, clustering and grid computing are native concepts. It's a new parallel programming model for a fast-approaching age of universal multiprocessing."

IBM has said it plans on pilot production of Cell microprocessors at its 300mm wafer fabrication facility in East Fishkill, N.Y. during the first half of 2005. Big Blue said it has also tagged the processor for a workstation it is developing with Sony Entertainment.

Sony said it plans on debuting the processor in home servers and high-definition television (HDTV) systems in 2006. Toshiba said it expects to launch its first Cell-based product, a high-definition television (HDTV), around the same time frame.

It looks like they are going to use this chip in just about everything. And it is going to use less energy which means more energy efficient mobile devices.

I stand corrected, I just assumed PC would likely just get a better version of the same tech sooner or later.

I think IBM will use this chip to finally bring about grid computing which will add significant processing power to computing systems. IBM has designed and talked about grid computing but it has not really caught on yet.