IBM, Sony, and Toshiba revealed plans this week for commercializing the new "Cell" processor that the three technology giants are jointly producing to power next-generation computers, TVs, and game consoles. Cell is a multi-core semiconductor composed of several processors that work together to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.

 

IBM and Sony have already invested US$400 million in R&D for the Cell project. Sony has committed an additional US$325 million for production at IBM's semiconductor plant in New York. Details about production plans are starting to come to light. Sony intends to launch home servers for broadband content and HDTVs (High-Definition-Televisions) featuring the Cell microchip in 2006. It also confirmed plans to use Cell to power the next-generation PlayStation game console, with the release of a working version possibly as early as May 2005. Toshiba will also offer Cell-powered HDTVs in 2006.

 

IBM will start test trials of Cell production lines in the first half of 2005. 300-millimeter silicon wafers -- which can yield more than twice as many chips per wafer as the 200-millimeter versions -- will be used to produce Cell microprocessors. The Cell will be built on a line width of 90 nanometers and each chip will contain multiple 64-bit processing circuits. The first planned product application is a workstation that IBM is developing with Sony that will target the digital content and entertainment industries.

 

Details concerning the Cell project have been kept under wraps since the three companies first announced their preliminary plans in 2001. The Cell chip is reputed to have processing capabilities that far exceed that of conventional chips. It can process huge amounts of data over broadband networks, and it is designed to handle video streams from cable and satellite systems. Cell can also decompress encoded information and enlarge it for viewing on high-definition PDP (Plasma-Display-Panels).

 

An IBM spokesperson confirmed that the Cell chip is based on the "Power architecture" found in IBM's business servers, but it also employs "synergistic processor cores" to carry out high-speed calculations needed to manipulate graphics and sound. The three companies will reveal further technical details in February 2005 at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco.