Supercomputer on a chip

Description:

Not long ago the world had a first glimpse of the new processor by the STI group, which is intended for the upcoming Sony Playstation 3. The processor called “Cell” has been called to have a revolutionary new architecture and given the new architecture it also has astonishing computing power. It is not unusual that the “Cell” processor is also nick named a supercomputer on a chip, because it can deliver 256Gflops at a clock speed of 4 GHz.

The need for new and better computing power is not only been a trend in the recent year for the PC industry, but also a lot in the gaming industry. Games have become more power consuming, because the systems have better audio/video possibilities, but also need better security and creating high quality 3D graphics. So the need for faster processors will only increase.

Enablers:

• Need for more computing power
• High Definition Imagery and Sound
• Audio/Video decoding
• Digital Signal Processing (DSP)
• Multi-functionality
• Complex encryption for security

Inhibitors:

• Government regulations
• Power consumption
• Competitors

Experts:

Blachford, Nicholas (2005) Cell Architecture Explained: Introduction

Timing:

Sega:
1985 - Master system: Z80 8-Bit @ 3.6 MHz
1989 - Mega Drive: Motorola 68000 16-bit @ 7.61 MHz
1995 - Saturn: Two Hitachi SH2 32-bit RISC @ 28.6MHz
1998 - Dreamcast Hitachi SH-4 RISC 128-bit @ 200 MHz

Nintendo:
1986 - NES: Motorola 6508 8-bit @ 1.79 MHz
1989 - Super Nintendo: Motorola 68000 16-bit @ 7.61MHz
1996 - Nintendo 64: MIPS R4300i 64-bit @ 93.75MHz
2001 - Gamecube: IBM PowerPC "Gekko" @ 485MHz
TBA - Revolution: IBM "Broadway" @ xxxx MHz

Sony:
1995 - Playstation: MIPS R3000A @ 33.86 MHz
2000 - Playstation 2: 2x Toshiba & Sony Emotion Engine @ 294.9MHz
2006 - Playstation 3: IBM Cell processor @ xxxx MHz

Microsoft:
2001 - Xbox: Intel Pentium III @ 733MHz
2006 - Xbox 360: 3x IBM PowerPC-cores @ 3.0GHz

Web Resources:

http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cells/Cell0.html
http://www.apple.com/support/export/
http://www.elecdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?AD=1&ArticleID=9707