Introduction

The first generation Cell Broadband Engine is the first incarnation of a new family of microprocessors conforming to the Cell Broadband Processor Architecture (CBEA). The CBEA is a new architecture that extends the 64-bit PowerPC Architecture.

The CBEA and the Cell Broadband Engine are the result of a collaboration between Sony, Toshiba, and IBM, known as STI, formally started in early 2001.

• Background and motivations
  Although the Cell Broadband Engine is initially intended for application in game consoles and media-rich consumer-electronics devices such as high-definition televisions, the architecture and the Cell Broadband Engine implementation have been designed to enable fundamental advances in processor performance. A much broader use of the architecture is envisioned.
• Scaling the three performance-limiting walls
  The Cell Broadband Engine overcomes three important limiters of contemporary microprocessor performance: power use, memory use, and processor frequency.