IBM Starts Chip Supplies for Nintendo's "Wii" Game Machine
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Silicon Valley, Sept. 8 (Jiji Press)--International Business Machines Corp. said Friday it has started supply of its microprocessors for the "Wii" video game console of Japan's Nintendo Co. .
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IBM has created a process for repurposing scrap semiconductor wafers.
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(InfoWorld) - In an upgrade that could improve chip performance for gamers and multimedia users, IBM plans to double the performance of its microprocessors in 2008 by using smaller, more efficient memory, according to a paper presented at the ISSCC (International Solid State Circuits Conference) trade show in San Francisco Wednesday. IBM plans to use DRAM (dynamic RAM) instead of SRAM (static RAM) as the embedded memory cache built onto each chip. The change will allow each chip to store its data in one-third the area and use one-fifth the electricity for standby power, said Subramanian Iyer, director of 45-nanometer technology development at IBM. The approach will vastly improve chip performance for multicore processors and for applications that need to move large amounts of graphic data, such as gaming, networking and image-intensive multimedia, he said. IBM is already using the new embedded DRAM (eDRAM) in 65nm prototype chips, and plans to roll it out commercially by 2008 for its entire range of 45nm chips, including its Power line. The technology could have a big impact on consumer electronics, since IBM supplies chips for all three of the top gaming consoles; Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 3, Nintendo's Wii, and Microsoft's Xbox 360. A typical commercial microprocessor like Intel's Core 2 Duo devotes 60 percent of its surface area to memory, Iyer said. Replacing that with eDRAM cells taking up just one-third as much space will allow chip designers to build smaller chips and reduce the "run lengths," the length of wire that data must travel as it commutes around the chip, said John Barth, senior technology staff member and chief of eDRAM architecture for IBM. IBM has used embedded DRAM in its chips for the BlueGene supercomputer, but those PowerPC processors use moderately performing, bulk-technology DRAM, which is far slower than SRAM. To create the new design, IBM will add a high-speed type of DRAM to its current silicon-on-insulator (SOI) architecture. "This DRAM now is almost as fast as SRAM. It may not be as fast at the micro level, but when you get down to 45nm, it will be faster at the system level. It's going to just blow the doors off," Barth said. "A typical microprocessor takes 14 clock cycles to get data from its cache. Using DRAM slows that down, but only one clock [cycle]. By doubling the amount of memory on the die, we can get double-digit percentage gains at the system level." The advance comes at the same time that several other chip vendors are seeking better ways to move large quantities of graphics data. Advanced Micro Devices evenÂ acquired graphics card maker ATIÂ in 2006, and now plans to combine its graphics power with AMD's processing chips in a single chip called Fusion. That challenge was compounded in February, since Microsoft's new Vista OS has a graphics-intensive interface that demands increased PC storage space, faster processors and even separate graphics cards or coprocessors.
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Nintendo Co. Ltd. 7974.OS said on   Thursday there will be 16 software titles available when it   launches its new game console, the Wii, on December 2 in Japan.
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This morning, IBM confirmed to BetaNews that later this afternoon, its engineers are scheduled to demonstrate their own concept chip, which will utilize an embedded memory architecture for caching.  The company is saying it could double the performance of existing 65 nm processors and future generations by tripling its cache memory capacity and perhaps increase the throughput of that memory tenfold.
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LONDON (CBS.MW) -- IBM (IBM) later today is expected to announce the limited production plans for a chip for home entertainment products, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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Nintendo plans to release its new Wii video game console in the Americas in November.
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The chip is expected to be unveiled Tuesday, in time to bump up the performance of game desktops before the holidays.
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IBM Corp. and Taiwanese chip designer MediaTek Inc. on Monday announced a three-year pact to develop wireless chipsets for a new technology to transmit large volumes of information, such as full-length high definition (HD) movies, between DVD players, HD-TVs, hand-held devices or other gadgets around the home or office.
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InfoWorld - German memory chip giant Qimonda AG on Thursday announced a five-year pact to develop several types of non-volatile memory technologies with Macronix International, known for the memory chips it supplies to Nintendo's popular Wii game consoles.
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A long-awaited microprocessor developed by IBM Corp., Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. will go into early production next year and start appearing in video game consoles, high-definition TVs and home servers in 2006, the companies said Monday.
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A low price and innovative controller could push Nintendo's Wii to the top spot in Japan.
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Advanced Micro Devices and IBM will work together to devise chip-manufacturing technology for three additional years, a deal that will bring about a quarter of a billion to IBM over four years and give AMD access to cutting-edge chip inventions.
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NEW YORK - IBM Corp. has begun using new security hardware from National Semiconductor Corp. in its desktop PCs in an effort to fend off viruses and hackers.
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A long-awaited microprocessor developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba will go into early production next year and start appearing in video game consoles, high-definition TVs and home servers in 2006, the companies said Monday.
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IBM today plans to disclose details of a project to put a supercomputer on a chip.
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IBM announced Tuesday that it has created a process allowing its manufacturing facilities to repurpose otherwise scrap semiconductor wafers.