Power Processing Element: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:05, 22 May 2016

Revision as of 12:57, 3 December 2016

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| variant = [[Cell (microprocessor)|Cell BE]], [[Xenon (processor)|XCPU]], [[Xenon (processor)#XCGPU|XCGPU]], [[Cell processor#PowerXCell 8i|PowerXCell 8i]]

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The '''Power Processing Unit''' (PPU) is a [[64-bit]] [[Multithreading (computer architecture)|dual threaded]] [[Out-of-order execution|in-order]] [[Power Architecture]] [[microprocessor]] [[Multi-core processor|core]] designed by [[IBM]] for use primarily in the [[game console]]s [[PlaystationPlayStation 3]] and [[Xbox 360]], but has also found applications in high performance computing in [[supercomputer]]s such as the record setting [[IBM Roadrunner]].

In most instances the PPU is joined by a 512 KB L2 cache to form what is called the Power Processing Element (PPE).

The PPU is used as a main CPU core in three different processor designs:

* The [[Cell (microprocessor)|Cell Broadband Engine]] (Cell BE) which is used primarily in [[Sony]]'s [[PlaystationPlayStation 3]] gaming console. It uses the PPE and comes in three versions, a 90 nm, a 65 nm and a 45 nm part.

* The [[Cell (microprocessor)#PowerXCell 8i|PowerXCell 8i]] which is a version of the Cell BE with enhanced FPU and memory subsystem. It was only manufactured as a singe 65 nm version.

* The [[Xenon (processor)|XCPU]] which is used in a three core configuration and a unified 1 MB L2 cache inside Microsoft's [[Xbox 360]]. It comes in three versions, the 90 nm and 65 nm versions, and the 45 nm [[Xenon (processor)#XCGPU|XCGPU]] with an integrated [[Graphics processing unit|graphics processor]] from [[ATI Technologies|ATI]].