Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • PC Hardware

    IBM Gears Cell Chip for Industry and Game Systems

    By
    Daniel Drew Turner
    -
    October 26, 2005
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      SAN JOSE, Calif.—IBM chip designers said that the Cell processor it is developing with partners Sony Corp and Toshiba Corp. will be suitable for vertical industry applications as well as gaming systems.

      IBM engineers briefed attendees of the In-Stat Fall Microprocessor Forum here Wednesday on the technical details of the chip design and on how to optimize its performance for multiple applications.

      Formally introduced in February at the International Solid State Circuits conference in San Francisco, the 64-bit Cell processor that will be used first in Sonys PlayStation 3 game console.

      However, Chelmsford, Mass.-based Mercury Computer Systems Inc. has announced it will build Cell-based computers for use in the medical and aerospace industries.

      IBM and Sony Computer Entertainment talked in May of last year about co-developing workstations built around the Cell; they said in November that this first Cell-based workstation had “powered on.”

      The main design goal for the Cell is to produce up to a tenfold increase in performance for most applications, said David Krolak, the lead IBM engineer on the Cell project.

      The Cell is composed of a 64-bit PowerPC processor core called the PPE (Power Processing Element) running at 3GHz to 4GHz frequency surrounded by eight special-purpose SPE (“synergistic processing element”) cores.

      Krolak noted that the Cell could be configured for usage in game console systems, blades, HDTV sets, home media servers and supercomputers.

      To connect the separate elements of the Cell, IBM designed the Element Interconnect Bus.

      The EIB will be, Krolak said, a coherent SMP bus supporting 64 outstanding results per requestor and addressing collision detection and prevention.

      Krolak said that this, plus the EIBs independent command and data networks and the ability to split command and data transactions, will allow a 3.2GHz Cell processor to reach a peak bandwidth of 300G bps, with a sustained rate of up to 200G bps.

      This will provide “next-generation bandwidth,” Krolak said.

      He noted that the front side bus on most contemporary computers offer 6 to 8G bps, with DDR2 memory bandwidth at 6 to 11G bps.

      In comparison, Krolak said, the Cell will use two Rambus I/O controllers and a Rambus Dual XDR memory controller for an aggregate memory data bandwidth of 25.6G Bps in each direction.

      Krolak said that there were “potential bottlenecks” with this configuration, though. Developers will have to pay attention to the fact that the Cells data rings are a shared resource.

      Multiple transactions can be on the same ring, Krolak said. But a transfer between two units will block access to that ring for other units on that path. As a result, he said, programmers will have to manage which devices talk to each other when they set up workload assignments.

      Memory and I/O workload assignments will also have to be carefully managed, Krolak said, for maximum performance.

      /zimages/4/28571.gifRead the full story on PCMag.com: IBM Gears Cell Chip for Industry and Game Systems

      /zimages/4/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news in desktop and notebook computing.

      Avatar
      Daniel Drew Turner

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×