From: Curt Hibbs <curt@...>
Date: 2005-02-12T02:43:06+09:00
Subject: [OT] The IBM/Sony/Toshiba Cell Processor

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MessageI don't know if you are interested in microprocessor design, but IBM,
Sony, and Toshiba recently unveiled their long anticipated Cell processor
which promises to turn the hardware industry on its head with power that far
out strips anything available in a microprocessor today, and at low cost
This will have implications across the board from PCs to embedded systems.

If you're interested, you can read a brief article in PC World at:

    http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,119602,00.asp

And a much longer and more detailed exposition at:

    http://www.blachford.info/computer/Cells/Cell0.html

This is impressive stuff!

Curt

PS

I copied the conclusion from the longer article below to pique your
interest.



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Conclusion

The first Cell based desktop computer will be the fastest desktop computer
in the industry by a very large margin. Even high end multi-core x86s will
not get close. Companies who produce microprocessors or DSPs are going to
have a very hard time fighting the power a Cell will deliver. We have never
seen a leap in performance like this before and I don't expect we'll ever
see one again, It'll send shock-waves through the entire industry and we'll
see big changes as a result.

The sheer power and low cost of the Cell means it will present a challenge
to the venerable PC. The PC has always been able to beat competition by
virtue of it's huge software base, but this base is not as strong as it once
was. A lot of software now runs on Linux and this is not dependant on x86
processors or Microsoft. Most PCs now provide more power than is necessary
and this fact combined with fast JIT emulators means that if necessary the
Cell can provide PC compatibility without the PC.

It will not just attack the PC industry but expect it to be widely used in
embedded applications where high performance is required. This means it will
be made in numbers potentially many times that of x86 CPUs and this will
reduce prices further. This will also hurt PC based vendors' desires to
enter the home entertainment space as PC based solutions [Entertainment]
will be more complex and cost more than Cell based systems.

This is going to prove difficult for the PC as CPU and GPU suppliers will
have essentially nothing to fight back with. All they can hope to do is
match a Cell's performance but even that is going to be incredibly difficult
given the Cell's aggressive Cray-esqe design strategy.

Cell is going to turn the industry upside down, nobody has ever produced
such a leap in performance in one go and certainly not at a low price. The
CPU producers will be forced to fight back and irrespective of how well the
Cell actually does in the market you can be sure that in a few short years
all CPUs will be providing vastly more processing resources than they do
today. Even if the Cell was to fail we shall all gain from it's legacy.

Not all companies will react correctly or in time, this will provide
opportunities for newer, smaller and smarter companies. Big changes are
coming, they may take years but the Cell means a decade from now the
technology world is going to look very different.



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