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Cell Chip Eclipses Today's PC Processors

Posted on: Wednesday, 23 March 2005, 03:00 CST

Production Begins in 2005. . .

A team of engineers from IBM, Sony Corp. and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (Sony and Sony Computer Entertainment collectively referred to as Sony Group) and Toshiba Corp. have collaborated on development of the Cell microprocessor at a joint design center established in Austin, Texas, since March 2001. The prototype chip is 221 mm, integrates 234 million transistors, and is fabricated with 90 nanometer SOI technology.

Cell's breakthrough multi-core architecture and ultra high-speed communications capabilities deliver vastly improved, real-time response for entertainment and rich media applications, in many cases 10 times the performance of the latest PC processors.

Effectively a "supercomputer on a chip" incorporating advanced multi-processing technologies used in IBM's servers, Sony Group's computer entertainment systems and Toshiba's semiconductor technology, Cell will become the broadband processor used for industrial applications to the new digital home.

Another advantage of Cell is to support multiple operating systems, such as conventional operating systems (including Linux), real-time operating systems for computer entertainment and consumer electronics applications as well as guest operating systems for specific applications, simultaneously.

Initial production of Cell microprocessors is expected to begin at IBM's 300mm wafer fabrication facility in East Fishkill, N.Y., followed by Sony Group's Nagasaki Fab, this year. IBM, Sony Group and Toshiba expect to promote Cell-based products including a range of industry-wide applications from digital televisions to home servers to supercomputers.

Among the highlights of Cell:

* Cell is a breakthrough architectural design - featuring eight synergistic processors and top clock speeds of greater than 4 GHz (as measured during initial hardware testing).

* Cell is a multicore chip capable of massive floating point processing.

* Cell is OS-neutral and supports multiple OSs simultaneously.

"The disclosure of the Cell chip's breakthrough architectural design is a significant milestone in an ambitious project that began four years ago with the creation of the IBM, Sony and Toshiba design lab in Austin, Texas," said William Zeitler, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "Today we see the tangible results of our collaboration: an open, multi-core, microprocessor that portends a new era in graphics and multi-media performance."

Masashi Muromachi, corporate vice president of Toshiba Corp. and president &. CEO of Toshiba's Semiconductor Company, company said: "We are proud that Cell, a revolutionary microprocessor with a brand new architecture that leapfrogs the performance of existing processors, has been created through a perfect synergy of IBM, Sony Group and Toshiba's capabilities and talented resources.

"We are confident that Cell will provide major momentum for the progress of digital convergence, as a core device sustaining a whole spectrum of advanced information-rich applications."

Copyright Publications & Communications, Inc. Feb 2005

Source: Enterprise Networks & Servers

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