PS4 to use Cell, NOT PS3?

[bbot]

That's what TheInquirer says.


http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=9106

 

[London Geezer]

if u go into the Collins English Dictionary and look at the word *inquirer* it says:

BULLSHIT

 

[jvd]

actually the current rumors point to that. Or at least a very late ps3. Once in awhile they hit it on the head. We will see though i guess. Thats what happens when u announce things way to in advance. It comes back to bite you if everything doesn't work out perfectly .

 

[Phil]

actually the current rumors point to that. Or at least a very late ps3. Once in awhile they hit it on the head. We will see though i guess. Thats what happens when u announce things way to in advance. It comes back to bite you if everything doesn't work out perfectly .

Actually, this is the first of its kind that I've seen that suggest this scenario - and reading this article, I wouldn't think it holds any ground seeing that it's nothing but speculation on the authors part taking latest released articles into consideration. I don't see any quotes from Sony, nor quotes that would suggest that it holds any truth. The most realistic scenario I see is PS3 with CELL being pushed back by 1 year. Given the PlayStation mindshare and hype, I doubt it would really hurt them releasing a year later. I don't see Microsoft or Nintendo launching much earlier either...

 

[bbot]

Didn't Sony license a 64-bit Mips cpu core sometime ago? Could they use this to design a "Emotion Engine 2" for PS3?

 

[Paul]

It's already confirmed by SCEI that Cell will be used in PS3, so.... No.

 

[Geeforcer]

LOL, Inquirer is so unreliable, there credibility is negative. Thus, I am now more then ever sure that Cell will make into PS3 - since Inquirer said it would not.

 

[Panajev2001a]

LOL, Inquirer is so unreliable, there credibility is negative. Thus, I am now more then ever sure that Cell will make into PS3 - since Inquirer said it would not.

uhm... you seem to have a point

 

[marconelly!]

Whoa, they don't even seem to understand that EE in PS2 runs at different frequency than GS. They think Sony is making new chip twice as fast as PS2.

 

[bbot]

Didn't Sony license a 64-bit Mips cpu core sometime ago?

Nevermind. Found it.


http://www.mips.com/content/PressRoom/PressReleases/2002-07-16


Question: In the patent for Cell, the Cells use PowerPC cores. But SCEI is intent on using a 64-bit Mips core. Are they going to replace the PowerPC core with a Mips core for the final Cell for PS3? OR is this an indication that SCEI won't use Cell in PS3, since Cell seems to based on PowerPC cores?

Vince asked me how SCEI could have two projects, one devoted to Cell, the other devoted to the CPU PS3, without them mentioning it. Well, could this announcement of SCEi licensing a MIPS64 core from Mips, be an indication that a parallel project indeed does exist?

 

[jvd]

Actually there is the rumors that ibm said a 5 year time table which would place cell 2006 - 7 . So i dunno. We will see what happens .

 

[Panajev2001a]

Sony also licensed 1-T SRAM from MoSys and other technologies... which doesn't mean PlayStation 3 is going to suddenly use 1-T SRAM...

Sometimes you license a technology because the product you are working on uses ideas that were patented by others and licensing the technology you get to also use those ideas...

 

[bbot]

Sony also licensed 1-T SRAM from MoSys and other technologies

Yes, but SCEI, not just Sony in general, has licensed it form Mips. Now, what in the world would a division of Sony specically devoted to Playstation want to do with a Mips64 core? Just to throw it away? I doubt it. More likely they intend to use it for PS3.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Latest PS3 news

Posted 4/23/2003 - 12:50AM, by Hannibal
In a recent news thread, forum member wco81 posted a link to this article on the story behind IBM's upcoming Cell chip. It's got some decent info in it, so I recommend reading it, but be sure to maintain plenty of skepticism regarding the way the author frames the story he's telling. I'm not sure he understands the console market all that well; he seems to think it's technology-driven and not license-driven, which is a mistake that PC people commonly make when they talk about consoles. Also, the article contains the following quote about the PS3 and the Cell processor:

IBM has not announced when it will release the final [Cell] chip, but the Cell project was originally envisioned as taking five years, suggesting that the final product may not be ready until as late as 2007. Although Sony refuses to talk about its future plans for the chip, it does admit that the Cell chip will not be the CPU in the Playstation3, reportedly slated for release in 2005.

I'm actually fairly certain that the claim that Sony won't use the Cell in the PS3 is not accurate. I emailed the author asking for a direct, on-the-record quote from a Sony rep for this particularly stunning revelation, but he never bothered to respond. My suspicion is that the writer heard something from someone that he thought sounded something like an indication that Sony won't be using the Cell in the PS3, and he then reported it as fact, not knowing that if it were true it would be a major revelation.

If it were true that Sony is in fact not using the Cell for the PS3, then this goes against everything that's been made public about the console so far. It also raises the question of what Sony would choose to use as a replacement chip.

The latest bit of news on the cell is that Sony is investing $1.6 billion into a new 65nm plant for fabricating the Cell chip.

"Cell will be the basic processor for building networks," Ken Kutaragi, Sony's executive deputy president, told a news conference. "In addition to expanding its use in new applications inside the Sony group, we want to take it outside the home and expand it to a variety of areas."

I presume that when Kutaragi says that Sony wants to take the Cell "outside the home" this means that it will show up first in the home, and I can't imagine that they'd spend that much money on a plant for a home-oriented chip that's not destined for the PS3.

 

[Phil]

Sony also licensed 1-T SRAM from MoSys and other technologies

Yes, but SCEI, not just Sony in general, has licensed it form Mips. Now, what in the world would a division of Sony specically devoted to Playstation want to do with a Mips64 core? Just to throw it away? I doubt it. More likely they intend to use it for PS3.

That's quite interesting actually, seeing that the EE is based off a MIPS 5900. SCE is big however and I suspect that they have many other projects next to the PlayStation. I'm sure there are some devisions that could make use of it...

Having another chip in planning using a MIPS core and costing some more R&D just doesn't add up to me, especially since their highest priority chip is already going to cost them a fortune.

 

[Paul]

"Vince asked me how SCEI could have two projects, one devoted to Cell, the other devoted to the CPU PS3, without them mentioning it. Well, could this announcement of SCEi licensing a MIPS64 core from Mips, be an indication that a parallel project indeed does exist?"

He also mentioned how there is no evidence in any yearly reports of the money being used for this "second" PS3 chip.

The only question now is when will PS3 come out, because SCEI monday confirmed Cell will be in ps3.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Sony also licensed 1-T SRAM from MoSys and other technologies

Yes, but SCEI, not just Sony in general, has licensed it form Mips. Now, what in the world would a division of Sony specically devoted to Playstation want to do with a Mips64 core? Just to throw it away? I doubt it. More likely they intend to use it for PS3.

No, they could use it for maybe a portable machine... or it could be the SPU3 of PlayStation 3 or maybe they could use it in the I/O ASIC together with a 90 nm EE...

My best guess is that in the work SCE is doing they came across certain things that were property of MIPS and were covered by MIPS64 related patents...

SCE did license IBM's 100 nm SOI manufacturing process yet it never really implemented it... the new EE+GS chip is realized with 90 nm technology and the next step fro Sony and Toshiba is 65 nm... Again, licensing IBM's own 100 nm SOI process they might have taken ideas and solved some issues in the development of their 65 nm process...

 

[bbot]

So what if that author of that EDC article didn't respond. He perhaps thought it was a waste of his time to read email from a "nobody". That why I said awhile back that someone with "stature" should email the author. Because, otherwise, the author won't even bother to read a email from a person like me, or you pana.

 

[Paul]

bbot, Hannibal isn't exactly a "nobody" in the CPU world.

SCEI confirmed Cell being in PS3 already, so we should ponder when PS3 will be released.

 

[bbot]

Where's an unambigiuous direct quote?