Re: PS3/Cell BE platform

[Newell_J]

on the SPE in an spu_thread, shipping data in and out via DMA, minimizing
ooo (out of order, ie branchy) code, then reworking the algorithm to take
advantage of the SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) instruction set.
Once that’s done, recompile it with IBM’s modified GNU toolchain, and watch
it crash.

hth,

Jason.

Thanks for the info, it helped. From what I have read it seems like SP3
is
the only way to currently get a hold of the Cell BE, without having to
buy
an expensive workstation or server, right? I am just curious because I
am
looking to get a new computer soon that I will be using for graduate
school
working on SDR (As of now, I am looking to work on GPR and possible
improvements of this), and from the reading I have done it seems like
this
would be a great architecture for SDR. Curious if you knew if they were
going to offer this chipset for desktops or what your opinion about
switching to that platform was?

Newell

---

Talk now to your Hotmail contacts with Windows Live Messenger.
http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwme0020000001msn/direct/01/?href=http://get.live.com/messenger/overview

[Newell_J]

Newell J. wrote:

wrapping the chunk of code you want on the SPE in an spu_thread,
graduate school working on SDR (As of now, I am looking to work on GPR
and possible improvements of this), and from the reading I have done it
seems like this would be a great architecture for SDR. Curious if you
knew if they were going to offer this chipset for desktops or what your
opinion about switching to that platform was?

From my digging, the PS3 is the only way for the average joe to get a
CellBE right now. It may be good for SDR in the future, but keep in
mind, it doesn’t have any PCI/PCI-X/whatever slots, the drive is a 60GB
2.5" SATA, the ram is soldered down, and so there is little to no room
for upgrades. Which isn’t a show stopper, it’s just fairly limiting.

On the software side, it’s going to take a while for the OSS hackers to
figure out how to best take advantage of the Cell and mod their
packages. So unless you’re willing to dive in, it’s going to be a
while.

Personally, I would only buy a PS3 for SDR if you either
a.) have disposable income.
b.) play a lot of games, and are willing to save up the cash.

And that’s only if your interested in porting GnuRadio to the Cell BE.
Currently, nothing has been ported, let alone tested on it as is. If
you just want to dive into SDR, I would advise against it.

hth,

Jason.

[Newell_J]

On 11/16/06, Jason [email protected] wrote:

Personally, I would only buy a PS3 for SDR if you either
a.) have disposable income.
b.) play a lot of games, and are willing to save up the cash.

And that’s only if your interested in porting GnuRadio to the Cell BE.
Currently, nothing has been ported, let alone tested on it as is. If
you just want to dive into SDR, I would advise against it.

I would recommend running simulations using their Cell software suite,
and get something working within the simulator before going ahead and
buying any hardware.

Playing with a Cell BE processor would be interesting, but there are
plenty of things you can do within simulation first that can be just
as useful without spending $600 on a PS3 (if you can find one this
holiday season!).

Brian