IBM's little CELL homepage..

[DeadmeatGA]

IBM's little homepage on CELL
Just as the cells in a body unite to form complete physical systems, a "Cell" architecture will allow all kinds of electronic devices-from consumer products to supercomputers-to work together, signaling a new era in Internet entertainment, communications and collaboration.

The Vision:

Breakthrough microprocessor architecture that puts broadband communications right on the chip.

Markets:

Next-generation communications
Consumer multimedia applications

STI cell processor defined

Two years ago, Sony and Toshiba and IBM (STI) announced that they had teamed up to design an architecture for what is termed a system-on-a-chip (SoC) design. Code-named Cell, chips based on the architecture will be able to use ultra high-speed broadband connectivity to interoperate with one another as one complete system, similar to the way neural cells interoperate over the brain's network.

Market demand for STI cell processor

IBM expects Cell to define an entirely new way of operating. Cell's underlying architecture will enable it to manifest itself into many forms for many purposes, helping to open up a whole new set of applications. Incorporating this architecture, chips will be developed for everything from handheld devices to mainframe computers.

 

[DeadmeatGA]

...

Notice how IBM repeatedly stresses CELL's onchip broadband communication, nothing about Teraflop on a chip. SSI(Single System Image) is also mentioned. So is CELL a SSI cluster or a Grid?? IBM says SSI Cluster, Kutaragi used to call it GRID, these two are very different concepts. So who is right here????

 

[Psychogenics]

Re: ...

Notice how IBM repeatedly stresses CELL's onchip broadband communication, nothing about Teraflop on a chip. SSI(Single System Image) is also mentioned. So is CELL a SSI cluster or a Grid?? IBM says SSI Cluster, Kutaragi used to call it GRID, these two are very different concepts. So who is right here????

BOTH because IBM is talking in general and PS3 chip will be specially made for Handling multi-media and games.....though it will not have much difference in design I;m sure Sony version will have more of a gaming
format....that cell is the basic one in which it is not complete yet.

 

[cthellis42]

No one has been contradicting that description of Cell anyway, and IBM is likely as not to say "as much power as you need" as anything else. The page also links one of the earlier press releases with that ever-famous quote "Cell will be designed to deliver "teraflops" of processing power." Why would this particular report bother to mention specific designs considering the purpose of the chip is to allow new levels of interconnectivity and scalar ability to fit whatever one wants it to.

Just what Sony is going to want or be able to fit under PS3's hood is unknown. Just what the dimensions and layouts and requirements of CELL is is also unknown until STI delivers more detail.

Just what the hell is this article SUPPOSED to "prove"? It changes absolutely nothing that people have been back-and-forthing with the whole time. Until they release particularly quantifyable details, we are still just shrouded in ambiguity and random press statements.

 

[Paul]

Notice how IBM repeatedly stresses CELL's onchip broadband communication, nothing about Teraflop on a chip.

Cell can handle network packets hence the reason why it's the processor for the "broadband era". Also Hence "broadband engine" from the cell patent.

As far as Cell's "Power" the IBM PR linked on the page stated that Cell will be capable of teraflops of performance, and Kutaragi and the crew stated time and time again that Cell would have 1TFLOPS performance.

 

[Megadrive1988]

Since CELL is not one particular chip, it is a building block that can be used to build particular chips and systems, you will see some chips with 100 GFLOPs, other chips with 500 GFLOPS, still other chips with 1 TFLOP, yet other chips with serveral TFLOPs. And entire large scale systems/supercomputers with MANY TFLOPs, and even a PETAFLOP or PETAFLOPS.

SCE might design its own Cell-based processor called Emotion Engine 3 that has 1 TFLOP or several TFLOPs, using Cell building blocks.


CELL is SCALABLE

 

[Vince]

Why is it when I posted this a few weeks ago nothing came of it - untill DM had time to assimilate it into his disturbing schizo anti-Sony ideology?

Stuff like this makes you wonder...

 

[cthellis42]

I try not to think about it. Helps me sleep at night.

 

[Vince]

Helps me sleep at night.

Good to hear you're still sleeping after hearing about the Ricky Martin future... (shivers)

 

[cthellis42]

Dammit, stop that! <runs off to hide in the corner>

 

[zidane1strife]

So who is right here????

Their current sales would go way down, if they announce teraflops performance chips arriving in few yrs.

 

[Grall]

Re: ...

Notice how IBM repeatedly stresses CELL's onchip broadband communication, nothing about Teraflop on a chip.

Note how they don't say anything at all about the performance of the thing, they don't even say if it will do a single flop whatsoever.

Note also dead, how you can't draw ANY conclusions whatsoever about the ABSENCE of something in a text. I can't find any information about wether god exists or not in that text, does that mean religion's a fraud? Think about that for a second will ya.

Then again, you're probably too deep into your schizo anti-sony idiology to understand these basic concepts. After all, this didn't stop you from starting the thread in the first place!


*G*

 

[Saem]

Good to hear you're still sleeping after hearing about the Ricky Martin future... (shivers)

Prophecies that makes you a heretic in some places -- damn you!

 

[Urian]

Poor DeadMeatGA.

He cannot understand that Cell Architecture is designed for be scalable.

All the people of this forums know about the patent and the Software Apulets.

Software Apulets= Similar to Java Console= Posibilty of transfer info or application from one device with "Cell" to other device with "Cell".

Cell is a general purpose CPU, but more flexible than the actual general purpose CPU (Desktop Computers) because its architecture. For example in XBOX the X-CPU works as a specific purpose CPU.

The first objective in a desing of a console isn´t the numbers, the numbers are marketing, the first objective is making a good console for programmers, designers, editors and players in all ways.

Remember that we are talking about a mass media product.

 

[David_South#1]

A Cell chip,
of 1 TeraFLOPS,
by 2010. (~<45nm)

 

[Panajev2001a]

David: CMOS6 and 12S (45 nm IIRC ) should be ready by mid 2006: Toshiba, for CELL manufacturing, has developed with SCE and IBM a 45 nm SOI manufacturing process which allows to use a new kind of e-DRAM that doesn't need the capacitor thus resulting smaller than conventional e-DRAM ( quite smaller ).

It might be the case that PlayStation 3 is indeed delayed to Q4 2005 and it is released with almost economically unfeasible CPU realized in 65 nm ( or straight economically unfeasible CPU ) and they would get back in control not many months later with the 45 nm die-srhink which should cut the size in half or more ( the e-DRAM would be smaller than what the die shrink alone would produce ).

That is after-all what happened with the GS in the launch PlayStation 2 consoles: a 250 nm 279 mm^2 beast.

 

[Gubbi]

True. But SONY launched PS2 pretty much without competition (well, there was Dreamcast). This time they will have MS breathing down their neck applying both performance and price pressure.

Cheers
Gubbi

 

[zidane1strife]

This time they will have Nintendo breathing down their neck applying both performance and price pressure.

 

[JF_Aidan_Pryde]

I don't think Ken Kutaragi is a genius at all for all the CELL stuff, but rather he saw people like Deadmeat comming from miles away:

There are too many watchers who criticize other people's technologies and there are too little who really are giving everything a good thought. Those mere criticizers claim they are engineers, but alas, they are salaried workers.

 

[DeadmeatGA]

...

David: CMOS6 and 12S (45 nm IIRC ) should be ready by mid 2006

Wow, SCEI is going to throw away their 65 nm equipment after using them for a year???