IBM, Sony/SCEI and Toshiba are actively encouraging the proliferation of CELL applications   The most celebrated of Cell applications, Sony’s PlayStation® 3, is due out next spring. In the meantime, the SOI-based Cell Broadband Engine (CBE) microprocessor, as it is officially known, is getting a big push from its joint developers: Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. …

SOI got its start in Japan. Now in a raft of new applications, its home again   Japan’s NTT launched the worldwide SOI revolution 27 years ago when it developed the SIMOX (Separation by IMplanted OXygen) process, and gave the first demonstration of an SOI device. Then, with the advent of wafer bonding and Smart …

Microsoft’s custom PowerPC chip by IBM is based on SOI   Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which is expected to fly out of the stores this holiday season, has some very impressive figures to cite. The three-core PowerPC-based CPU, custom-made for Microsoft by IBM, boasts one teraflop of floating-point performance.

IBM is reaping the benefits of its long SOI history. In 1998, IBM announced that after years of research, it had “perfected” SOI, and would incorporate it into custom and standard products. “We believe SOI, with its high- performance and low-power characteristics, is a significant breakthrough in chip technology,” said Mike Attardo, General Manager, IBM …

New SOI-based products target communications infrastructure. Consider the communications processor market, which Freescale dominates with its PowerQUICC architecture and 83% market share (Gartner Dataquest 2003). To date, Freescale has shipped nearly 200 million communications processors to more than 500 customers worldwide; many of these devices are now at 130nm process technology. As of this year, …

SOI-based products help win new customers. AMD, a long-time favorite of discerning PC buyers, is now the undisputed leader in 64-bit microprocessor performance for x86-based servers and worksta-tions. The growing success of AMD64 processors in enterprise-class computing can be attributed in part to the company’s move to SOI, which has enabled AMD to achieve industry-leading …

To make cars more comfortable, convenient, safe and secure, leading car makers such as DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Ford, GM and VW are using In-Vehicle Networking (IVN) systems that can consist of anywhere from 10 to 100 chips. The primary IVN networking protocol, Controller Area Network or CAN, is used throughout the car in body, chassis and …

Many defense electronics contractors have a need for advanced signal processing solutions that can fit into space constrained platforms, such as the new, smaller Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), as well as in pods under manned aircraft and smaller ground vehicles. The signal processing systems on all these platforms must be able to function under difficult …

Casio calls its new Atomic-Solar G-Shock watch “the hottest G-Shock available”. As heralded in a recent press release, “The toughest watch in the world is now the smartest watch in the world.” It gets its power from the sun and its time from the Atomic Clock in Fort Collins, Colorado.