The Next Generation of Chips

My keyboard is still buggy so I'll keep this short. Keeping with the supercomputing theme from yesterday, today's article is about a new chip developed by Sony, IBM and Toshiba called "the cell". This chip is set to revolutionise the entertainment industry with the promise of low-cost supercomputer power that will be able to operate at up to ten times the speed of conventional microchips.

This chip was originally developed for the Playstation 3, but could be used in a variety of other household entertainment appliances like TVs and HIFIs. The secret of the chip's processing power stems from the fact that it has 9 cores, which means it can carry out 9 separate tasks in each cycle. Compavre this with the conventional single core processors in most PCs today, even running at the same clock speed (targetted at 4GHz), the cell will b6e able to run almost 9 times as fast.

Howevrevr, it is unlikely that you will be able to buy a cell for your PC anytime soon as it is currently optimised for handling video and audio data. Plus, a major stumbling block for the Cell's future is the lack of software, cos to fully utilise the chip, programs would have to be totally re-written. But this may be the beginning of a new generation of processors with multiple covres. Hopefully the next time I get a PC, I'll be able to get a 20 core processor with it. :)

IN WHAT is promised to be a gigantic leap forward for the iPod-era of digital entertainment, a consortium led by Sony Corporation yesterday unveiled a low-cost “supercomputer” that will be able to operate at up to ten times the speed of conventional microchips.

The breakthrough calls for a new definition of Moore’s Law, the theory devised by Intel’s Gordon Moore in 1965, that the power of computer chips doubles every 18 months. It could also finally challenge the dominance of Intel and Microsoft in the personal computer industry.

Blueprints for the chip, known as “the Cell”, were shown at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco yesterday.

The chip, developed with IBM and Toshiba, is designed to be used in Sony’s PlayStation 3 video games console, but could also revolutionise the way people watch television and listen to music.

Click here for the full article.