backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 46 comment(s) - last by Transcendental.. on Jun 29 at 10:15 PM
Cell Broadband Engine to help government with surveillance technology

The same computing power used in game consoles may soon help tackle computational challenges in national security, cyberspace, and bioinformatics. Mercury Computer Systems and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are collaborating to apply the technologies found on the PlayStation 3, such as its GPU and the Cell Broadband Engine processor, to these critical applications.

"We're excited to be working with PNNL, and about the possibilities of applying multicore computing technology to enable the development of economically viable computing solutions to previously intractable problems," said Jay Bertelli, President and CEO of Mercury Computer Systems, Inc. "Early results from our collaboration show that, together, we can analyze streaming data in real time, which has been a critical challenge for data-intensive computing. Our goal is to open the door for new applications."

In the areas of defense and security, the new computing power could be used on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to partially analyze incoming data onboard. Equipment on such platforms needs to be minimal in size, weight and power, such as the size of a games console. A possible application of the technology is real-time surveillance in multiple locations enabled by the right software in a laptop-size supercomputer.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Headline?
By therealnickdanger on 6/27/2007 9:37:04 AM , Rating: 5
I'm getting a little sick of articles that allude to the PS3 doing all this magical stuff when no one is saying that they will actually use a PS3 - but rather the CBE, and typically much more powerful configurations at that. It's great PR for Sony, but not entirely truthful.




RE: Headline?
By mdogs444 on 6/27/2007 9:49:57 AM , Rating: 1
Exactly. It would be like the government using Intel chips to power unmanned planes, and saying "Just like your Dell bought C2D system". Its just not the same.


RE: Headline?
By BigLan on 6/27/2007 9:57:13 AM , Rating: 4
Or even 'just like xbox1.' I saw a similar thing on the bbc website today about the new IBM supercomputer. Just because it's got cell doesn't mean that it's really anything like the PS3. Cell is an IBM chip and they've already said they're going to be trying to find as many applications for it as possible.


RE: Headline?
By wrekd on 6/27/2007 10:08:00 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah this is getting ridiculous. This sounds like a couple people yapping about what could happen someday while tossing the Sony name around for PR and kickbacks.

I can't wait until these Sony UAV's go all T2 on various goats all over the world.


RE: Headline?
By Fusible on 6/27/2007 10:24:14 AM , Rating: 5
I think these guys should get it right. It's the CBE there after, not the PS3. If that was the case, they would just buy them. I mean you can't install a PS3 on a UAV. When will these supposed reporters get it right. Because the basis for this is the CBE, not the PS3.


RE: Headline?
By Panurge on 6/27/2007 10:43:54 AM , Rating: 2
Not to mention that they talk about using the GPU of the PS3 for these applications as if this is a new idea.

The use of GPUs for general processing has been around for years (look up GPGPU).

In fact, the GPU of the PS3 is less suited to this kind of computation because it has hard-coded shaders. Using newer chips for this type of processing is better because of the push for unified shaders. Allowing the shaders to perform any kind of computation means better performance in general.


RE: Headline?
By FITCamaro on 6/27/2007 11:37:31 AM , Rating: 4
Thank you for saying it. I'm starting to think DailyTech gets kick backs from Sony each time they write an article like this.

And trust me, there's no plans to put a PS3 on the Shadow UAV. I asked the engineers downstairs.


RE: Headline?
By therealnickdanger on 6/27/2007 2:42:42 PM , Rating: 3
After re-reading my post, I just wanted to add that my words may come across as disrespectful to Mr. Yam. I wouldn't want someone pooping on my articles. He's a fine writer and contributor to this site, I just disagree with the title. Sorry if I came across too blunt.

Also, I've got nothing wrong with giving Sony props for its achievements, but standing on the shoulders of IBM's CBE architecture is not one of them.

That is all.


RE: Headline?
By elmikethemike on 6/27/07, Rating: -1
RE: Headline?
By Chaser on 6/27/07, Rating: -1
RE: Headline?
By therealnickdanger on 6/28/2007 11:46:47 AM , Rating: 2
The 360 does have a great CPU, but one would never be able to claim that "Xbox360 technology" was the basis for a PowerPC-based supercomputer. Your own bias has led you to believe that the PS3 is a monumental achievement of computing power - despite what thorough hardware analyses have divulged. There are no facts in your argument. Naturally, you would be unable to accept any further logical discussion on the topic.

I sleep great, basking in the soft green glow and gentle hum of my 360.


The proper title should be...
By FITCamaro on 6/27/2007 3:56:31 PM , Rating: 5
"IBM's Cell Chip Could Form the Basis of National Security Technology"

Then the first sentence can be,

"IBM's Cell processor, more well known for its use in the Playstation 3 games console, may soon..."

If this had been the original title, I wouldn't have gotten upset. But I get tired of the Cell processor being synonymous with the PS3. It wasn't solely developed for the PS3. So actual journalists shouldn't act like it was. Or even title articles to suggest it was.

If you do, I'm going to say you're just trying to promote Sony. Because thats what it looks like.




RE: The proper title should be...
By deeznuts on 6/27/2007 5:15:39 PM , Rating: 3
But the original announcement does make mention of the PS3. Read it here

http://www.mc.com/media_center/press_release_MRCY_...


By Chocolate Pi on 6/27/2007 11:18:45 PM , Rating: 2
Right, I'm certainly not accusing DailyTech of stirring up PS3 propaganda or anything of the sort. I'm just tired of every single mention of Cell inevitably leading to "You know, they put that in the PS3!"...


By Transcendental Ego on 6/29/2007 10:15:42 PM , Rating: 2
You do know that Sony and Toshiba both helped on the cpu as well as IBM.


The important question here is.....
By marvdmartian on 6/27/2007 10:12:31 AM , Rating: 2
.....if they put this technology in an unmanned aerial vehicle, then use that UAV to shoot a missile that kills some terrorists, will it then do a flyover, and a tinny voice will come out of a speaker, laugh maniacally, and declare that the terrorists were Pwned??




By arazok on 6/27/2007 10:31:39 AM , Rating: 5
I want to know if the people remotely piloting these things have rumble packs on the controller's.


By darkpaw on 6/27/2007 10:37:36 AM , Rating: 2
For some reason I have the unreal voice-over chick saying ulta-kill in my head for some reason.


This would be a great opportunity for Sony
By BBock727 on 6/27/2007 11:47:07 AM , Rating: 2
Have the government subsidize PS3's making them cost like $200 to consumers and then allow them to use the consoles networks cell technology. It makes sense. The consumer wants a cheaper product and most consumers don't care how their machines extra processing power is being used. Think about all the people that use those cancer/ET screensavers just to benchmark their computer.

If it would get the PS3 into a competitive price point i think it would be a great opportunity for Sony.




By Imaginer on 6/27/2007 12:03:03 PM , Rating: 2
Why? In fact, MOST of the parts in the console will never be in use, it is only the CHIP they are after and will be EMBEDDED in a CUSTOM solution.

This is like saying that the government will duct tape the newly released DELL INSPIRON DESKTOP on a Global Hawk.


By FITCamaro on 6/27/2007 3:46:15 PM , Rating: 2
What are you talking about? What you're talking about isn't even mentioned in this article.

You're thinking that the article is referring to new programs like Folding @ Home will be coming out for the PS3 and businesses will write them to allow them free processing power. Its not.

Its saying (wrongly) that companies are going to use their own PS3s for things. They won't be. They'll be using computers or other hardware with the Cell chip on it. But you're not going to see a PS3 sitting in a hospital running image analysis.


Best part of the article.
By Frosen on 6/27/2007 9:50:54 AM , Rating: 4
Does anyone else notice that it's a picture of Jack Bauer in the article? Anytime we talk about national security... I guess Jack has to be there.




RE: Best part of the article.
By sscilli on 6/27/2007 9:58:27 AM , Rating: 2
Absolutely nothing to do with PS3.