Sony Prepares Cell, PS3 for 2006

Next generation race further hots up.

Update: New info on Cell processor and exciting quotes added.

The next round of hardware is nearly upon us, and 2005 marks the year that all three current hardware manufacturers will start their launch campaigns. As the easy winner of the current hardware race with the PlayStation 2, Sony is under closest scrutiny from its legions of fans and detractors.

Artist's impression of PlayStation 3

Sony, IBM and Toshiba said on Monday that they would be showing of their co-developed Cell chip, the multipurpose processor that will drive the so-called PlayStation 3, at a technology conference in February.

The companies also said that the chip would enter early production phases in 2005, with full-scale output set for 2006, implying that the PlayStation 3 will not hit until 2006.

IBM, Sony, and Toshiba confirmed that Cell is a "multicore chip comprising a 64-bit Power processor core and multiple synergistic processor cores capable of massive floating point processing. Cell is optimized for compute-intensive workloads and broadband rich media applications, including computer entertainment, movies and other forms of digital content." The companies are also promising the following features:

• Multi-thread, multicore architecture.
• Supports multiple operating systems at the same time.
• Substantial bus bandwidth to/from main memory, as well as companion chips.
• Flexible on-chip I/O (input/output) interface.
• Real-time resource management system for real-time applications.
• On-chip hardware in support of security system for intellectual property protection.
• Implemented in 90 nanometer (nm) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology.

"Less than four years ago, we embarked on an ambitious collaborative effort with Sony Group and Toshiba to create a highly-integrated microprocessor designed to overcome imminent transistor scaling, power and performance limitations in conventional technologies," said Dr. John E. Kelly III, senior vice president, IBM. "Today, we're revealing just a sampling of what we believe makes the innovative Cell processor a premiere open platform for next-generation computing and entertainment products."

"Massive and rich content, like multi-channel HD broadcasting programs as well as mega-pixel digital still/movie images captured by high-resolution CCD/CMOS imagers, require huge amount of media processing in real-time. In the future, all forms of digital content will be converged and fused onto the broadband network, and will start to explode," said Ken Kutaragi, executive deputy president and COO, Sony Corporation, and president and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "To access and/or browse sea of content freely in real-time, more sophisticated GUI within the 3D world will become the 'key' in the future. Current PC architecture is nearing its limits, in both processing power and bus bandwidth, for handling such rich applications."

"The progressive breakdown of barriers between personal computers and digital consumer electronics requires dramatic enhancements in the capabilities and performance of consumer electronics. The Cell processor meets these requirements with a multi-processor architecture/design and a structure able to support high-level media processing. Development of this unsurpassed, high-performance processor is well under way, carried forward by dedicated teamwork and state-of-the-art expertise from Toshiba, Sony Group and IBM," said Mr. Masashi Muromachi, Corporate Vice President of Toshiba Corporation and President & CEO of Toshiba's Semiconductor Company. "Today's announcement shows the substantial progress that has been made in this joint program. Cell will substantially enhance the performance of broadband-empowered consumer applications, raise the user-friendliness of services realized through these applications, and facilitate the use of information-rich media and communications."

While Nintendo has been relatively quiet, Microsoft, Sony's other main opponent in the console business, has been more vocal about its hardware launch plans.

The company has stated in the past that it won't allow Sony to gain an early lead again in the videogame hardware market.

Gates expected to show off Xenon in January

Microsoft president Bill Gates is scheduled to give the keynote speech at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and many believe that he will use the chance to talk about Microsoft's successor to the Xbox.

But whatever happens, we can expect an interesting six months. All three companies are expected to lay out their next-generation hardware plans at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in May.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games