Sony, Toshiba and IBM have long touted the Cell Broadband
Engine (Cell/B.E.) to be supercomputer material. The designers of the Cell/B.E.
said many times that the processor may be used in a variety of applications,
ranging from entertainment to industrial.
Now, the U.S. Air Force is planning to put the Cell/B.E. to
the test, and oddly enough, it plans to procure its processor samples by
purchasing 300 PlayStation 3 consoles.
As written in its presolicitation
notice posted late February, “The Air Force Research Laboratory is
conducting a technology assessment of certain cell processors.”
While there are many other ways to obtain a Cell/B.E., some
of which more capable than the one offered for videogames, but even the U.S. Air
Force has a budget.
“The processors in the Sony PlayStation 3 are the only brand
on the market that utilizes the specific cell processor characteristics needed
for this program at an acceptable cost,” detailed the notice.
Strangely, the 40GB PlayStation 3 model requested by the
U.S. Air Force specifies the inclusion of four USB ports – twice as many on the
retail 40GB PS3 – and slots for Memory Stick/SD/Compact Flash, which are only
available on the 60GB and 80GB machines.