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The Next Wave: Apple’s Connection to the CELL Processor

Posted by Dennis Sellers Feb 3, 2005 at 12:25am

“Macsimum News” is welcoming a new columnist as of today. He’s known only as Neo, an international man of mystery. If we told you more, we’d have to kill you. This is his first “Next Wave of the Internet” series for “Macsimum.”

The Mystery

There’s been a lot a buzz and confusion over the last few years surrounding the mysterious CELL processor from IBM, Sony and Toshiba. Yet I find that most of the confusion has stemmed directly from the babbling confusion created by the media themselves. They appear to be both hesitant and perplexed in trying to pigeon-hole this revolutionary processor. They’ve referred to it as both a CPU and GPU. And we’ve all heard about the magic bullet theory that generalizes this processor as being able to scale from the upcoming Playstation 3 through to Supercomputers. How am I to relate to that? So thanks for nothing.

At the very least I thought someone by now would have published something original pertaining to the actual patent overview, being that it’s been around since 2002. Sure I’ve seen the odd schematic attached with some rehashed verbiage, but nothing of any value in advancing the discussion. I’ve seen very little coverage of this processor by Mac news sites save for a few excited kids talking up a storm about the Playstation 3. So two and a half years after the patent release, and we’re still in the dark!

Well, the good news is that we’ll be getting another glimpse of this new processor when news breaks from this year’s International Solid-State Circuits Conference, which begins on Sunday, Feb. 6. I’m sure we’ll be given some exciting new angle or twist we could all feast on for awhile, especially if the planned CELL enhanced workstation surfaces. Could there be a surprise for the Mac Community in the wings? They could of course simply use a generic box for the conference’s testing along with the announcement of a Q2 release keeping the vendors name a total secret until such time. However, that brought this question to mind: If the inventor’s of the CELL processor really wanted to make a serious marketing impact next week, then wouldn’t they want to unveil it under the hood of a shiny new Power Mac?

Could you imagine the Buzz that would create in the PC world? And with Apple’s latest quarterly financials being their most profitable in history due to iPod mania, wouldn’t it only make sense to ride this marketing wave now rather than later? Well, let’s take a closer look at why it’s even a remote possibility, and while we’re at it, look at some other aspects of how CELL could play into Apple’s hand going forward.

Apple’s Mystery Man of the Hour: Sony’s Kunitake Ando

Steve Jobs introduced the president of Sony, Kunitake Ando, at this year’s MacWorld Conference & Expo by saying that he was going “to talk about the collaboration between Sony and Apple, to make this the year of High Definition Video” (@ 52:00 mark of the QT Keynote). So let’s flash-back to recount some of the very interesting comments President Ando had for us at MacWorld:

QT@ 53:55: because together we could really, with the great software and hardware products, we could really revolutionize the way we enjoy video at home.

Sony is a great primary supplier of HD equipment for the broadcasters.

We recognize the fact that the great quality software is the glue which puts together all the pieces and make the great value of the hardware.

QT @ 54:11: So, strategically it’s very important for Sony to work with Apple who creates the great applications which works seamlessly with all the Sony products. And just all the great software that you just introduced— Just do that. On the Mac Platform—yes.

He then swiftly moved into talking about how the HD format came about—but then choked. (QT @ 56:09) Kunitake Ando went to say something … and then looked to Steve for help. He stuttered out, “And I think…ah…what…you know this…well, I don’t know…and then…we should together – We’ll really create this great HD world and everything – right?” Steve Jobs dashed in with, “We’re in.”

QT @ 57:36: You know we do work very closely with Sony on digital still cameras and these new camcorders, which is really great. And who knows, maybe someday computers and music too.

No Mystery Here—With a Little Context!

When I reflected back on Mr. Ando’s reminding us all of their link to broadcasters and their Wega line of televisions, I couldn’t help but think of other key statements along that vein that Sony had made in the past 12 months that could shed some light on the reasoning behind his visit to MacWorld. Was there more being said here? Well let’s see.
There were two specific articles that came to mind. The first one linked the CELL processor to their 2006 line up of network-centric televisions that would offer functionality similar to that of a personal computer, and then there was the more important second article that really hit home, big time! Here are a few excerpts:

The President of Sony, Kunitake Ando, has hit out at Microsoft for its broad push into the consumer arena.
In an interview in today’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Ando said that operating systems shouldn’t be the monopoly of just one company.

He said he has “reservations” about using a Microsoft operating system in a TV, with the possibility of creating “another empire” similar to the one it already has in the PC industry.
High prices and the inability to modify software are drawbacks to Microsoft’s push in this arena, he said. Ando said that OSes should be open technologies. He also said that while Sony cooperates with chip giant Intel, it shouldn’t be allowed to dominate the consumer electronics market.

So Mr. Ando’s seemingly innocent comments made at MacWorld apparently aren’t so accidental or spur of the moment as first thought. If he had reservations about using a Microsoft operating system in their 2006 network-centric televisions—then who else do you think would be on Mr. Ando’s short list of candidates for a TV based OS?. Yes, of course. And isn’t Darwin an Open Source OS that would provide the required flexibility Mr. Ando seeks? Yes again.

Then there’s the issue of Mr. Ando’s reservations about another Microsoft Monopoly to deal with. Is this the reason why Mr. Ando jokingly said to Steve Jobs “Just do that—On the Mac Platform—yes.” Yes Mr. Ando, we now get why you added that point, loud and clear! Yes it was funny, but more importantly it revealed a vital clue. And lastly there’s the point concerning the network-centric television with similar functionality of a computer. Doesn’t that fit well with Steve Jobs thought-to-be off-the-cuff comment of “And who knows, maybe someday computers and music too.” Yes, of course. Just keep in mind that Sony’s timeline on CELL based network-centric televisions with computer like functionality are on their 2006 roadmap. So Mr. Ando, I guess your comment about video in the home means a little more than your camera used with Apple’s iMovie!

Pivotal Points to Remember

If we go back to the very start of Steve Jobs keynote, he stated: “This is the first MacWorld we’ve ever used HD projection.” Later on, during his QuickTime 7 segment, he demonstrated the power of H.264/AVC by graduating a QuickTime movie trailer from standard size format through to “full screen,” which was in fact was full HD projection – like a movie screen (See my article entitled “Apple’s QuickTime Leaps to the Silver Screen and Beyond” for more background).

So in that light, I’d like to bring you back to statements made this past November by both Masayuki Chatani, corporate executive and CTO, Sony computer Entertainment Inc. and IBM, who will then advance this topic to the next level.
Sony: “The Cell processor-based workstation will totally change the digital content creation environment. Its overwhelming power will be demonstrated in every aspect of the development of all kinds of digital entertainment content, from movies, broadcast programs to next generation PlayStation games.

The Cell workstation is designed to deliver tremendous computational power, helping digital entertainment content creators generate higher quality content with richer and more dynamic scenes, much faster than current development systems.”

Hmm, I wonder if those using Apple’s Power Mac G5 systems using little apps like Shake would be considered as entertainment content creators by Sony. Kind of a no-brainer on that point wouldn’t you agree? I also happen to think that Steve Jobs H.264 Demo put that little point to rest very nicely. Okay, time to change gears with IBM.

IBM: “Our collaboration with Sony is leading to a new era of innovation in the semiconductor and computing industries,” said Colin Parris, vice president of product management, IBM Systems & Technology Group. “The supercomputer-like processing and performance of the Cell processor-based workstation is just the beginning of what we expect will be a wide-range of powerful next-generation solutions resulting from our joint development efforts.”

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.”
“To access and/or browse content freely in real-time, a more sophisticated graphical user interface (GUI) within the 3D world will become key in the future. The current PC architecture is nearing its limits, in both processing power and bus bandwidth, for handling such rich applications.”
Cell provides a breakthrough solution by adopting a flexible parallel and distributed computing architecture consisting of independent floating point processors for rich media processing. Cell supports multiple operating systems, including PC/WS operating systems (Web Services OS based on WSDL), as well as real-time CE/Game operating systems.

Hmm, I wonder if that recurring 3D iChat AV demo that Steve Jobs loves to remind us with has anything to do with the 3D world and rich applications that IBM is referring to here. Hey, don’t think too long on that one folks—that’s a slam dunk!
So with these two basic contrasting visions of CELL back to back I think you could easily notice how Sony is clearly emphasizing the entertainment angle to CELL while IBM on the other hand is emphasizing the enterprise side of the equation. It’s not time to further delve into other points IBM made as this will fall into other chapters of the series as it progresses. In the end it will all come down to iServices in one form or another, which I’ve been a fanatic to convey throughout the entire series to date.

The Mystery Continues

While other Operating Systems will be able to take advantage of this revolutionary processor, let me be clear on this point: OS X Tiger’s timely arrival being exactly in tune with the launching of CELL is by no means coincidental I assure you!
Understanding the CELL project in relation to Apple is going to take a number of twists along the way before there’s a clearer conclusion. However, I would hope that today’s simple glimpse of its potential has shed some light in terms of how it could play out in just one very strategic scenario—Sony’s network-centric television platform. I personally think that’s more important than just spewing out the geekier side of the details in helping us visualize the CELL in the real-world. But I’ll touch on the patent briefly in the next chapter because it’s important. One must prove the existence of facts relating to this subject and the patent is a great place to start. This isn’t all theory folks.

At the moment, from comments I’ve been hearing from a few in the Mac community, I’d have to say that no one is getting the importance of this project. In fact, many don’t even acknowledge it to be on Apple’s roadmap. Big mistake!
The general media doesn’t fair much better really in understanding CELL, and that got me to thinking about Winston Churchill’s description of Russia for some reason when he wrote: Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Though I must confess that I prefer Joe Pesci’s version of expressing it as he did in the Oliver Stone’s movie JFK – like a lunatic! Because that’s how I envision those in the media trying to unravel this so-called mystery. I personally think it’s hilarious quite frankly, because it needn’t be so. But something tells me when we get into what the patent actually states, maybe you’ll understand why the PC media has conveniently gone stupid on this one. We’ll see, maybe it’s just me.

So until the chapter arrives on Monday covering key aspects of the CELL patent itself, I’d like to know if you still think that President Ando’s visit to MacWorld was really incidental.

Addendum

CELL Conference Sessions on Tap for beginning February Sixth

For the super Macite geeks among us, here’s what you can expect to be covered at this annual conference concerning CELL:

Session 7.4: A Streaming Processing Unit for a CELL Processor

The design of a 4-way SIMD streaming data processor emphasizes achievable performance in area and power. Software controls data movement and instruction flow, and improves data bandwidth and pipeline utilization. The micro-architecture minimizes instruction latency and provides fine-grain clock control to reduce power.

Session 10.2: The Design and Implementation of a First-Generation CELL Processor

A CELL Processor is a multi-core chip consisting of a 64b Power architecture processor, multiple streaming processors, a flexible IO interface, and a memory interface controller. This SoC is implemented in 90nm SOI technology. The chip is designed with a high degree of modularity and reuse to maximize the custom circuit content and achieve a high-frequency clock-rate.

Session 20.3: A Double-Precision Multiplier with Fine-Grained Clock-Gating Support for a First-Generation CELL Processor

A double-precision multiplier for a 90nm SOI CELL processor is presented. Dynamic Booth logic is designed for scalability and with noise, leakage, and pulse-width variation tolerance. Static partial-product compression is implemented with replicated bits for performance. The design supports fine-grained clock gating domains for active power reduction.
Session 26.7: A 4.8GHz Fully Pipelined Embedded SRAM in the Streaming Processor of a CELL Processor
A 6-stage fully pipelined embedded SRAM is implemented in a 90nm SOI technology. The array uses a conventional 6-transistor memory cell and sense amplifier to achieve the cycle time while minimizing the impact of device variation. A sum-addressed pre-decoder allows partial activation for power savings.

Session 28.9: Clocking and Circuit Design for a Parallel I/O on a First-Generation CELL Processor A parallel I/O is integrated on a first-generation CELL processor in 90nm SOI CMOS. A clock-tracking architecture suppresses reference jitter to achieve 6.4Gb/s/link operation at 21.6mW/Gb/s. SOI effects on analog circuits, in particular high-speed receivers, are addressed to achieve a receiver sensitivity of ±12mV at 6.4Gb/s with BER <10-14 measured using 7b PRBS data.