ibm cell processors

 

Processors Cell Broadband Engine, submitted by the public even in the distant year 2005, today found wide application in virtually all types of modern computing devices, starting with the game console and television systems, ending with a powerful supercomputers BlueGene family from IBM. It is obvious successfully integrated circuit obligation for its unique architecture, includes the use of two main components: processor architecture based on the element of Power (PPE), serving as controller for eight major computing clusters, grouped under the symbol Synergistic Processing Elements (SPE). Interaction PPE and SPE, as well as exchange data with the memory controller and interface I/O- done through internal tyre Element Interconnect Bus (EIB).

Despite the successful architecture, the development of Cell processor does not stop - the company IBM formally announced the new version of chips Cell, designed specifically to work in conditions of server systems. The main differences are microchips: use 65 - nm process in the manufacture of devices, the transition to more widespread use today RAM standard DDR2, instead of Rambus XDR, which supported the original Cell. At the same time, with 2 GB to 32 GB increased the maximum amount of RAM, which can turn the processor. This is a prerequisite for successful implementation of a number of computational challenges, solved with the help of server computers. Changes touched and block floating point, which increased their productivity five times, compared with the original version of processors Cell - now microchip can perform up to 190 billion floating point operations per second (190 gigaflops).

Engineers IBM will offer customers bleyd servers QS22, equipped with two processors updated Cell, whose official designation - IBM PowerXCell 8i; while, through the use of 65 - nm microchips will be able to keep power consumption in an acceptable framework - not more than 250 watts. According to the company’s producer, the devices offer the highest performance at a very compact layout server, with the main areas of use QS22 are: financial applications, the oil industry and media applications for processing data. IBM QS22 Deliveries start in June this year, starting value systems is less than $ 10 thousand

Of course, given the changes implemented for the sole purpose - optimizing Cell processor for use in server computers. But it is showing flexibility on how to modernize and further improvement was architecture microchips IBM, Toshiba and Sony. It is worth noting that in the future, IBM expects the company to increase the number of vector processors by half, compared with the modern version - up to sixteen pieces, and later again to redouble their number. But what is most interesting, based on the Cell processor National Laboratory San Alamos (Los Alamos National Labs) plans to create the most powerful of the existing supercomputing - a system of Road Runner, consisting of approximately 16 thousand processors, which must overcome the barrier of one petaflops performance.