Cell (processor)
Cell is a 64-bit multi-core microprocessor microarchitecture that combines a general-purpose PowerPC core of modest performance with streamlined coprocessing elements[2] which greatly accelerate multimedia and vector processing applications, as well as many other forms of dedicated computation.[2]
Designer
March 2007
Fixed/Variable (Book E)
It was developed by Sony, Toshiba, and IBM, an alliance known as "STI". The architectural design and first implementation were carried out at the STI Design Center in Austin, Texas over a four-year period beginning March 2001 on a budget reported by Sony as approaching US$400 million.[3] Cell is shorthand for Cell Broadband Engine Architecture, commonly abbreviated CBEA in full or Cell BE in part.
The first major commercial application of Cell was in Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, released in 2006. In May 2008, the Cell-based IBM Roadrunner supercomputer became the first TOP500 LINPACK sustained 1.0 petaflops system.[4][5] Mercury Computer Systems also developed designs based on the Cell.
The Cell architecture includes a memory coherence architecture that emphasizes power efficiency, prioritizes bandwidth over low latency, and favors peak computational throughput over the simplicity of program code. For these reasons, Cell is widely regarded as a challenging environment for software development.[6] IBM provides a Linux-based development platform to help developers program for Cell chips.[7]
The 90 nm Cell/B.E. that shipped with the first PlayStation 3. The usual way one would see it is with its lid on, as it is glued on and not easily removed.
The 90 nm Cell/B.E. that shipped with the first PlayStation 3. It has its lid removed to show the size of the processor die underneath.
The underside of the 90 nm Cell/B.E. processor showing its 1242 solder balls, each 0.6 mm in diameter, and its array of 35 capacitors
The 65 nm Cell/B.E. that shipped with updated PlayStation 3s. It has its lid removed to show the size of the processor die underneath.
The 45 nm Cell/B.E. that shipped with updated PlayStation 3s such as the Slim and Super Slim versions. It has its lid removed to show the size of the processor die underneath.
The 65 nm high-performance PowerXCell 8i with extra capacitors on top due to decoupling needed for noise introduced by the DDR2 interface
Illustrations of the different generations of Cell/B.E. processors and the PowerXCell 8i. The images are not to scale; All Cell/B.E. packages measures 42.5×42.5 mm and the PowerXCell 8i measures 47.5×47.5 mm.