Software developer kit for Cell chip

pr0digal jenius · Nov 10, 2005, 03:24 PM

"The triad behind the Cell processor has released a software developer kit for the chip to help foster its popularity.

The kit, which contains more than 1,000 pages of documentation, includes extensions for optimizing the chip for Linux applications and other features.

Jointly developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba, the Cell processor is designed to handle complex, graphics-intensive applications better than standard processors. The chip is built around a PowerPC core, but contains eight helper processors that can handle audio, video and other tasks.

Sony will insert the chip into the PlayStation 3, while Toshiba will put it into televisions.

Over time, the companies hope to get derivatives of the chip into everything from cell phones to supercomputers. Earlier this year, the first company outside the IBM-Sony-Toshiba group, Mercury Computer Systems, agreed to put the chip inside its workstations.

Still, despite some of the touted advantages of Cell, the triad will likely have to perform quite a bit of grunt work, including putting out things like the developer kit, to push the chip toward market acceptance. Skeptics note that cell phone makers and others can already chose from a wide variety of high-performance microprocessors that are far more familiar than Cell."
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Source: C|Net News

pr0digal jenius · Nov 10, 2005, 03:24 PM

I want to put particular emphasis on the mention of specific documentation for the optimization of the Cell for Linux. Naturally, one immediately jumps to the conclusion of a Linux driven Playstation 3, but I want to take it a step further. With Toshiba putting Cell chips in thing like televisions, and the new Hitachi microdrives becoming ever larger in size, I wonder what the possibilites of creating a Television OS are, and if so, we may begin to see the old "TV/VCR" or "TV/DVD" combos part ways and see TV/DVRs come to market. Or, being a powerPC based chip, I wonder how specific the documentation is, and if it could be used to run, say, Fedora on an Apple G5? I think that is where this will have the most impact, not on the PlayStation3.

Nov 10, 2005, 03:24 PM	#1
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	Software developer kit for Cell chip "The triad behind the Cell processor has released a software developer kit for the chip to help foster its popularity. The kit, which contains more than 1,000 pages of documentation, includes extensions for optimizing the chip for Linux applications and other features. Jointly developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba, the Cell processor is designed to handle complex, graphics-intensive applications better than standard processors. The chip is built around a PowerPC core, but contains eight helper processors that can handle audio, video and other tasks. Sony will insert the chip into the PlayStation 3, while Toshiba will put it into televisions. Over time, the companies hope to get derivatives of the chip into everything from cell phones to supercomputers. Earlier this year, the first company outside the IBM-Sony-Toshiba group, Mercury Computer Systems, agreed to put the chip inside its workstations. Still, despite some of the touted advantages of Cell, the triad will likely have to perform quite a bit of grunt work, including putting out things like the developer kit, to push the chip toward market acceptance. Skeptics note that cell phone makers and others can already chose from a wide variety of high-performance microprocessors that are far more familiar than Cell." ______________________ Source: C\|Net News

Nov 10, 2005, 03:24 PM	Thread Starter #2
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	I want to put particular emphasis on the mention of specific documentation for the optimization of the Cell for Linux. Naturally, one immediately jumps to the conclusion of a Linux driven Playstation 3, but I want to take it a step further. With Toshiba putting Cell chips in thing like televisions, and the new Hitachi microdrives becoming ever larger in size, I wonder what the possibilites of creating a Television OS are, and if so, we may begin to see the old "TV/VCR" or "TV/DVD" combos part ways and see TV/DVRs come to market. Or, being a powerPC based chip, I wonder how specific the documentation is, and if it could be used to run, say, Fedora on an Apple G5? I think that is where this will have the most impact, not on the PlayStation3.