Preface

About this book

This tutorial is written for programmers who are interested in developing applications or libraries for the Cell Broadband Engine™ (Cell BE). It is not intended for programmers who want to develop device drivers, compilers, or operating systems for the Cell Broadband Engine.

The descriptions and examples in this tutorial are from the Software Development Kit for Multicore Acceleration, Version 3.0. The examples are chosen to highlight the general principals required for Cell Broadband Engine programming, so that an experienced programmer can apply this knowledge to other environments.

Who should read this book

The document is intended for system and application programmers who wish to develop Cell Broadband Engine applications.

Prerequisites

It is assumed that you are an experienced C/C++ programmer and are familiar with the basic concepts of single-instruction, multiple-data (SIMD) vector instruction sets, such as the PowerPC ® Architecture™ Vector/SIMD Multimedia Extensions, Intel ® MMX™, SSE, 3DNOW!, or x86-64 instruction sets.

It is also assumed that you have the Software Development Kit (SDK) for Multicore Acceleration, which includes a Cell BE specific, 64-bit PowerPC Linux operating system, SDK code examples, and the IBM Full System Simulator for Cell BE.

Related documentation

The following is a list of reference and supporting materials for the Cell Broadband Engine. Additional documentation for specific SDK components is generally provided with that component.
  • C/C++ Language Extensions for Cell Broadband Engine Architecture
  • Cell Broadband Engine, Architecture
  • Cell Broadband Engine Linux Reference Implementation, Application Binary Interface Specification
  • Cell Broadband Engine, Programming Handbook
  • Cell Broadband Engine, Registers
  • Accelerated Library Framework, Programmer's Guide and API Reference
  • Data Communication and Synchronization, Programmer's Guide and API Reference
  • PowerPC Microprocessor Family: The Programming Environments Manual for 64-bit Microprocessors
  • PowerPC Microprocessor Family: Vector/SIMD Multimedia Extension Technology Programming Environments Manual, Version 2.06c
  • PowerPC Operating Environment Architecture, Book III, Version 2.02
  • PowerPC User Instruction Set Architecture, Book I, Version 2.02
  • PowerPC Virtual Environment Architecture, Book II, Version 2.02
  • SIMD Math Library Specification for Cell Broadband Engine
  • Software Development Kit, Programmer’s Guide
  • SPE Runtime Management Library (Version 2)
  • SPU Application Binary Interface Specification
  • SPU Assembly Language Specification
  • Synergistic Processor Unit, Instruction Set Architecture