EE Times Asia Kutaragi Interview

[Titanio]

Seems new, dated 19 July 05:

http://www.eetasia.com/ARTICLES/2005JUN/C/2005JUN_INT_WK2.HTM

Focusses on Cell, mainly. Not a lot revelatory in there, but interesting nonetheless.

There have been plenty of challenges, everywhere. First was the Cell processor itself. We want the Playstation 3's arrival to be as explosive as the PSP [Playstation Portable] launch, so we have to establish a volume production system for the processor. How can we fabricate a large-scale, high-performance processor like the Cell at a pace of a million units a month in a quite-short time frame? It is madness to take that challenge, but we expect to pull it off.

[Pilot production of the Cell processor has already begun with an eye toward providing development kit chips for the Playstation 3, which is expected to hit the market next spring. Volume production details for the processor and the system, have not yet been divulged, however.-Ed.]

The Cell processor presentation at ISSCC was an academic treatise. The volume product will be different from the thesis, since we have to consider the various pros and cons in practical implementation.

The package warrants special consideration. The power consumption of the Cell processor is quite low for its high performance, but it consumes a large amount of power on an absolute scale. Handling large current, though the supply voltage is low, is a challenge for the power-circuit design.

Beyond the Cell processor, we have to consider the graphics processor that we are jointly developing with Nvidia, and the bridge chips as well. The Playstation 3 will use Blu-ray Disc media, but related technology and components are not available off the shelf. Everything is a challenge.

More at the link.

edit - Doh, this looks to be from last month. Was new to me though as far as I can recall, not sure if it's generally new to here (probably not!)

 

[Alpha_Spartan]

Cell is not like that. Application programs can no longer directly access the hardware; instead they will have to be written in high-level, object-oriented language. That was done for security reasons: If processors of high performance and wide bandwidth like the Cell were linked together without sufficient security, a worldwide system crash could occur with one attack.

OMG! Armageddon!!! It's like the Matrix. Thanks to the PS3 we'll all be slaves to machines. Thanks alot Kutaragi!

 

[phat]

Cell is not like that. Application programs can no longer directly access the hardware; instead they will have to be written in high-level, object-oriented language. That was done for security reasons: If processors of high performance and wide bandwidth like the Cell were linked together without sufficient security, a worldwide system crash could occur with one attack.

OMG! Armageddon!!! It's like the Matrix. Thanks to the PS3 we'll all be slaves to machines. Thanks alot Kutaragi!

It is an interesting concern, actually. When you have hundreds of millions of identical machines always connected to each other, sharing their compute resources, a single virus can spread like wildfire. It won't be a concern in PS3's lifetime, but it could be a real concern in Cell's lifetime.

 

[jvd]

I would hope for a bigger launch in the usa than the psp did . The psp failed to sell out by about 400k units out of a million . Hopefully the ps3 has a better launch than that

 

[c0_re]

That was done for security reasons: If processors of high performance and wide bandwidth like the Cell were linked together without sufficient security, a worldwide system crash could occur with one attack.

Is this guy on drugs or what, what planet is he from?

 

[mckmas8808]

That was done for security reasons: If processors of high performance and wide bandwidth like the Cell were linked together without sufficient security, a worldwide system crash could occur with one attack.

Is this guy on drugs or what, what planet is he from?

See Acert93 this is what I'm talking about. People always have to find a way to poke fun at Sony. c0_re look at what phat has said.

It is an interesting concern, actually. When you have hundreds of millions of identical machines always connected to each other, sharing their compute resources, a single virus can spread like wildfire. It won't be a concern in PS3's lifetime, but it could be a real concern in Cell's lifetime.

 

[Embedded Sea]

Do not post here again till you figure out what name you want to stay with



Or explain why your gong around using diffrent names

 

[c0_re]

It is an interesting concern, actually. When you have hundreds of millions of identical machines always connected to each other, sharing their compute resources, a single virus can spread like wildfire. It won't be a concern in PS3's lifetime, but it could be a real concern in Cell's lifetime.

"When you have hundreds of millions of identical machines always connected to each other"

We already do it's called the internet and as far as computers are concerned anything running Widows XP is the same as for as the stack is concerned.


Yes and PS2 will be piloting SCUDS for Suddam, I cannot belive you people buy this Sony PR garbage, I have nothing against the PS3(exect for them not including a hard drive standard) and yes I do belive it will be more powerfull than 360, but please put down your crack pipe.

The only protection against viruses is virus protection software, and DOS attacks are limited by available bandwidth

 

[jvd]

We already do it's called the internet and as far as computers are concerned anything running Widows XP is the same as for as the stack is concerned.

Not really. The computers providing the back bone of the internet are rarely using a windows based client .

Aside from that we see thousands of new viruses a day on the windows xp platform . Imagine how many are going to pop up for these consoles esp ps3 which as of now you can go on with out any gateway software . Also factor in that unlike the windows platform sony has 0 virus programs made . The first viruses will do major damage on these systems

 

[Carl B]

Yes and PS2 will be piloting SCUDS for Suddam, I cannot belive you people buy this Sony PR garbage, I have nothing against the PS3(exect for them not including a hard drive standard) and yes I do belive it will be more powerfull than 360, but please put down your crack pipe.

Wow, I HATE this garbage quote whenever it comes up.

First point is that Sony never said the EE could be used for missile guidance; rather, it was an export concern for the US, and thus Japan.

Second point is that I'm sure the EE would have provided superior capabilities to whatever chip(s) those SCUDS were in fact using. Consider what Cold War-era ICBM's must use for guidance, and the EE starts looking quite viable.

Would you rather have a processor with the power of the Emotion Engine guiding your missiles, or something circa 1960?

 

[mckmas8808]

Thanks jvd and xbdestroya for the good comments. Some people just love to bash Ken. I to this day can't figure out why. I'm glad that they are trying their best to add security.

 

[gurgi]

That was done for security reasons: If processors of high performance and wide bandwidth like the Cell were linked together without sufficient security, a worldwide system crash could occur with one attack.

Is this guy on drugs or what, what planet is he from?

See Acert93 this is what I'm talking about. People always have to find a way to poke fun at Sony. c0_re look at what phat has said.

It is an interesting concern, actually. When you have hundreds of millions of identical machines always connected to each other, sharing their compute resources, a single virus can spread like wildfire. It won't be a concern in PS3's lifetime, but it could be a real concern in Cell's lifetime.

I hope you are being sarcastic. A worldwide system crash? Heh.

 

[3dilettante]

Consider what Cold War-era ICBM's must use for guidance, and the EE starts looking quite viable.

Would you rather have a processor with the power of the Emotion Engine guiding your missiles, or something circa 1960?

I'd probably opt for something specially designed for the task. The Emotion Engine would probably have trouble dealing with the stresses of flight, as well as its proximity to a radioactive source.

 

[jvd]

Thanks jvd and xbdestroya for the good comments. Some people just love to bash Ken. I to this day can't figure out why. I'm glad that they are trying their best to add security.

It will be hard to prevent it . ms has live which prevents others from getting on . So its already a shield .

Sony so far doesn't have anything except the game software . Which means viruses can spread through hacks for games , cheats for games , browser software (if they choose too ) or all other kinds of ways .

In a way the ps3 as it stands now with the info we have is more like a windows system than the xbox 360 is . The real big problem for sony is that its the market leader and with the ps2 selling 90m systems virus makers are going to first target that platform

 

[Carl B]

Consider what Cold War-era ICBM's must use for guidance, and the EE starts looking quite viable.

Would you rather have a processor with the power of the Emotion Engine guiding your missiles, or something circa 1960?

I'd probably opt for something specially designed for the task. The Emotion Engine would probably have trouble dealing with the stresses of flight, as well as its proximity to a radioactive source.

I think you could do just fine with that EE, honestly. I seriously would prefer it to whatever they were using back then for inter-continental guidance, specialized or not. The rad-hardening is a good point though.

My point though is that Sony themselves never began this SCUD guidance/Saddam talk.

 

[Titanio]

The real big problem for sony is that its the market leader and with the ps2 selling 90m systems virus makers are going to first target that platform

This is indeed a problem for an open platform. My guess is that perhaps as per Kutaragi's suggestion, low level access to the hardware will be restricted for the wider community, only open to licensed devs and such (who presumably can be trusted not to start writing virii). Of course, presumably that wouldn't guarantee that there'd be none, but I guess it'd make it a lot harder (alongside hardware protection in Cell).

The PS3's own main OS may be completely closed, of course, also.

 

[jvd]

how long will that last is the question . The mod scene is big into hacking these boxes already to get content to play on them . Nothing is fully safe and i fully expect viruses and hacks on both platforms and with sony as the market leader going into this gen they will of course have the most problem

 

[overclocked]

jvd i dont think that this problem will ever stop, its natural in most ways.

I mean if you clean your windows their will always be a bird shiting on them the next day or some brats spitting...

 

[phat]

"When you have hundreds of millions of identical machines always connected to each other"

We already do it's called the internet and as far as computers are concerned anything running Widows XP is the same as for as the stack is concerned.

Not true. The Internet is actually a connection of heterogeneous machines. Even among Windows PCs, no two are exactly alike. They will be running different OS patches, different browsers, different email and IM clients, different hardware peripherals, etc. There is not going to be one exploit that all machines on the internet will be vulnerable to.

Consoles, on the other hand, are consumer electronics devices. They are meant to be all identical. An exploit affecting one unit will work on all others. Plus, if Kutaragi's dream of pooling connected Cells into a network computer comes to fruition, we're going to have high bandwidth and transparent code and data sharing between them. Combine a universal exploit with universal connectivity and we have a huge problem. Kutaragi is justified in his concern.

It may be that connected consoles will become more PC like in that they're going to diverge in what system patches they have installed, and thus afford the network some level of protection against pandemic viral infections, but this diversity that hinders viral "compatibility" can also affect compatibility of legitimate software, as we see on PCs.

Security is intrinsically hard and one can never be too paranoid about it because the cost of being caught unawares is almost unlimited.

 

[Alpha_Spartan]

This is the EE all over again. When the dust settles, the Cell won't be in anything major except the PS3.