IBM has started production of a more advanced version of the Cell microprocessor, the chip it developed with Sony and Toshiba.
The new Cell Broadband Engine is being manufactured at IBM's factory in East Fishkill, New York, using a 65 nanometer manufacturing process, which is an improvement on the current 90-nanometer process. Typically such a step in process technology results in a chip that is physically smaller and uses less power.
The Cell chip is perhaps best known for its place at the heart of Sony Computer Entertainment's (SCEI) recently-launched PlayStation 3 games console but it's also used in computers produced by IBM.
The first Cell-based computer was launched by IBM in September last year. The BladeCenter QS20 is being promoted to industrial users in the medical imaging, aerospace, defense, digital animation, communications and energy sectors. Early users include the University of Manchester and Fraunhofer Institute.
IBM has also won a contract from the U.S. Department of Energy to supply a supercomputer based on the Cell processor. Code-named "Roadrunner," the computer will be capable of up to 1,000 trillion calculations per second (one petaflop).
SCEI is planning to use a 65-nanometer version of the Cell in future versions of the PlayStation 3 to help cut manufacturing costs.
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