Toshiba's New Chip inside PS3!

[leechan25]

"Toshiba researchers described a critical audio/video I/O chip expected to surface in Sony's Playstation 3 when it debuts sometime next spring. The SCC, a "super companion chip" with A/V interface, works with the so-called Cell Processor"

PS3 has so many unknowns....

http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?AD=1&ArticleID=11014

 

[Farid]

August 24, 2005

 

[Titanio]

There seems to be lots of errors in that article, and the bit about the SCC seems rather speculative, or the writer may simply have been confused.

 

[leechan25]

http://www.elecdesign.com/Files/29/11014/Figure_03.gif

 

[leechan25]

No man, its real.

 

[Edge]

If this is true, than that is excellent. That's one amazing I/O chip, and it would make sense if Sony used it inside the PS3. The logic behind it, is that Sony has not indicated the I/O chip it is using, and it needs one, and this chip fits perfectly with all those I/O ports that Sony is offering on the PS3.

The chip coupled with CELL will allow the PS3 to record TV shows to a HD, while you are playing a video game, or browsing the net, etc. It will easily provide this! You could even record TV shows, while recording your game in MPEG2 format at the same time!!!

Sony's ambitions for the PS3 is amazing, as it will certainly be a mega poweful game console/computer/video-audio/media center of the home.

Toshiba said production is ready for mid-2005 so this device is certainly ready for the PS3 introduction next year.

I am really hyped for the overall potential of the PS3. It's going to be a media monster integrating and combining so many different formats and capabilities.

Thanks a lot for this awesome exciting news! It's been too quiet lately on the PS3 front.

 

[liolio]

They're speaking in the end of 512MB de video ram.
it seems that this article is based on odd information.
we know rsx will 256MB and a 128 bus.
the same goes with cell : 10gb/s to flexIO
2.6Gb/s flexIO to DMA
NON SENSE

shortly this article is bullshit!
the ps3 may have a toshida chip but the information given by elecdesign are just odd...

 

[Edge]

It's called flexIO for a reason. Think about it for awhile, and maybe you can figure it out, before you start questioning bandwidth rates not adding up correctly.

 

[mckmas8808]

I still don't understand this information.

 

[liolio]

why do they speak of Pci PciExpress?
why do they speak of ddr2?
why do they speak of decoder encoder? the cell can stream 48 hdtv channe at the same time.
flexIO give nearly 80Gb/s bandwidth.
15 or 20 to the southbridge 35 to RSX.
what does mean best effort processing?
what does mean realtime processing?
what is Sbus, bus to southbridge? we know that flexio is connetef to southbridge 15/20 Gb/s.
Dma is part of the cell is connected to eib and handle request of both ppe and 7 spe.
I don't remenber the name of the cell/Xdram connection but it's 25gb/s.

it looks like much do about nothing... they speak in odd way of a southbridge lol.

 

[Panajev2001a]

why do they speak of Pci PciExpress?

It is one of the possible connections of the Super Companion Chip, one of the busses it can connect to...

why do they speak of ddr2?

Because the SCC supports connection to it and might need some I/O RAM ?

why do they speak of decoder encoder? the cell can stream 48 hdtv channe at the same time.

So ?

flexIO give nearly 80Gb/s bandwidth.
15 or 20 to the southbridge 35 to RSX.

No...

what does mean best effort processing?

The devices connected to it have relaxed timing requirements and do not require a rigidly enforced deterministic response time which is required by real-time processing (in which what is important is that any task you might do must be completed withing a certain time limit from the moment it is issued "A realtime system is one in which the correctness of the computations not only depends upon the logical correctness of the computation but also upon the time at which the result is produced. If the timing constraints of the system are not met, system failure is said to have occurred." http://www.qnx.com/developers/articles/article_298_1.html ).

Dma is part of the cell is connected to eib and handle request of both ppe and 7 spe.

DMA means Direct Memory Access... you can have ,multiple pools of memory and multiple CPU's and multiple busses with multiple peripherals that want to access a particular pool of memory... PlayStation 2 has two DMA controllers IIRC: one in the EE and the other in the I/O CPU.

I don't remenber the name of the cell/Xdram connection but it's 25gb/s.[/quote] Yes, but it is not a problem.

What is more of a problem are theseis this:

Video Out, in the block-diagram, is handled by the RSX GPU and that would mean the RAMDAC's and CRTC's are connected to it and not to the SCC.

I could definately see the SCC used in a PSX 2 based on the PLAYSTATION 3 like (but better implemented ) the PSX is based on the PlayStation 2 chip-set. A PSX 2 that could allow recording of HD TV broadcast at the same time as the user is playing, functioning as a full Home Server + PVR which is not what PLAYSTATION 3 is supposed to be (only reading for example, no BD-R/RE or DVD+-R/RW writing) would be quite nice.

I could see though the SCC being used though, not at the same lengths as in a PSX 2.

 

[liolio]

thank you Panajev2001a for you response, now i've some homework to do.
I'll go to sleep less stupid tonigh.
My memory is usualy not my enemi but 'i've mess with FexIO bandwidth.

So i wos not absolutly wrong, the SCC is not an "odd southbridge" a better definition should be super southbridge
I 'm sceptic with Sony, but the PS3 seems more and more interesting, especialy with the linux port to come.

 

[Sis]

If this is true, than that is excellent. That's one amazing I/O chip, and it would make sense if Sony used it inside the PS3. The logic behind it, is that Sony has not indicated the I/O chip it is using, and it needs one, and this chip fits perfectly with all those I/O ports that Sony is offering on the PS3.

The chip coupled with CELL will allow the PS3 to record TV shows to a HD, while you are playing a video game, or browsing the net, etc. It will easily provide this! You could even record TV shows, while recording your game in MPEG2 format at the same time!!!

Sony's ambitions for the PS3 is amazing, as it will certainly be a mega poweful game console/computer/video-audio/media center of the home.

Toshiba said production is ready for mid-2005 so this device is certainly ready for the PS3 introduction next year.

I am really hyped for the overall potential of the PS3. It's going to be a media monster integrating and combining so many different formats and capabilities.

Thanks a lot for this awesome exciting news! It's been too quiet lately on the PS3 front.

I didn't see any tuner ports on the PS3? Nor any video in of any shape. Unless you think they're keeping it under wraps for competetive reasons. Would be cool, but I'm thinking it's probably far-fetched.

.Sis

 

[seismologist]

I didn't see any tuner ports on the PS3? Nor any video in of any shape.

.Sis

It's right there in the article.

The SCC includes a DDR2 DRAM interface for video RAM, with a dedicated DMA controller for streaming data. Also on the chip are high-definition and standard-definition video and audio inputs and outputs, an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) interface for connecting digital A/V equipment, and a transport stream interface for a digital tuner.

 

[Sis]

It's right there in the article.

I'm not sure what your point is? I'm talking about the PS3 console itself. It does not appear to have AV in, nor a cable tuner, nor firewire. But perhaps Sony could release a USB tuner...

.Sis

 

[chachi]

There seems to be lots of errors in that article, and the bit about the SCC seems rather speculative, or the writer may simply have been confused.

I think the author might be confusing Toshiba's Cell related work with what Sony is doing for the PS3. Not everything Cell = PS3. Previous articles that showed the logic board had the SCC as a fairly big package, in the context of a console that is already more expensive to manufacture than the competition, it seems a bit overkill for what is needed. As much as we'd all like it, they can't afford to be Sony Claus about everything, some day they need to make a profit too. And don't even start about 10 year lifespans, just don't.

 

[seismologist]

I think the author might be confusing Toshiba's Cell related work with what Sony is doing for the PS3. Not everything Cell = PS3. Previous articles that showed the logic board had the SCC as a fairly big package, in the context of a console that is already more expensive to manufacture than the competition, it seems a bit overkill for what is needed. As much as we'd all like it, they can't afford to be Sony Claus about everything, some day they need to make a profit too. And don't even start about 10 year lifespans, just don't.

I'm starting to think you guys may be right. That SCC seems like a pretty substantial chip. It's odd that we haven't heard anything of it before now. Maybe the PS3 has a special implementation like with the real time processing section removed.

 

[leechan25]

"And don't even start about 10 year lifespans, just don't".

Chachi,

Do you have any real numbers on how much it will cost to produce PS3 or how much Sony will lose per console? I bet you don't because NOBODY knows! So, since nobody knows what Sony is willing to lose to gain market share you can't say it will cost them too much to bring PS3 the market with the best tools possible. The article say this SCC is in the PS3, so until someone can find something that says it won't be in the PS3 - it's in the PS3.

 

[MrSingh]

I could definately see the SCC used in a PSX 2 based on the PLAYSTATION 3 like (but better implemented ) the PSX is based on the PlayStation 2 chip-set. A PSX 2 that could allow recording of HD TV broadcast at the same time as the user is playing, functioning as a full Home Server + PVR which is not what PLAYSTATION 3 is supposed to be (only reading for example, no BD-R/RE or DVD+-R/RW writing) would be quite nice.

I could see though the SCC being used though, not at the same lengths as in a PSX 2.

The PSX is dead. The entire PSX division has been disbanded. Many of the folks who worked on the PSX project are working on the PS3 now.

 

[Kb-Smoker]

awesome...

The rumored ps3 interface could really be true with this type of chip + cell.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13284367@N00/57517281/