 |
|
||||
|
IBM Cell: Beyond Playstation 3By Pedro HernandezJune 28, 2005
IBM's Cell processor, co-developed by Sony and Toshiba, is to appear in electronics other than the upcoming Playstation 3. Cell sports a "multiprocessor on a chip" architecture that is a departure from the x86 and Power-based chips that have become a staple of IBM's own product offerings. Currently, the chip employs a Power-based core and 8 co-processors. Its first announced implementation will be in the Playstation 3 game console when it is released in 2006. Fun and games aside, IBM announced today that it has signed up another customer, exposing the processor technology to entirely different markets. Big Blue is teaming with Chelmsford, Massachusetts-based Mercury Computer Systems, makers of computer equipment for defense and medical imaging fields. Together, they will be tweaking Cell to power a variety of technologies in the coming years. These include platforms for seismic processing, defense, medical imaging, and aerospace. The goal is to improve the performance of sensor and diagnostic equipment including MRI and CT scans, radar and sonar. As such, the companies will coordinate their efforts through IBM's Engineering and Technology Services division. Shorter term, the companies will be investigating how to use Cell to boost the speed and capabilities of Mercury’s current portfolio. In early estimates, Mercury expects their efforts to yield products that offer 10 times the processing power of current systems. If these aims are achieved, Cell-based equipment will benefit those industries, healthcare and defense particularly, with more detailed and highly accurate scans and resultant images.
|
|
|
|
Email
Print
Digg This
Add to del.icio.us
