IBM To Integrate Cell Broadband Engine With Mainframe For Next Generation Virtual Worlds

IBM will integrate its Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.) with an IBM mainframe, creating a hybrid with the power and security needed for new “virtual worlds.” Hoplon Infotainment, a Brazilian online game company whose software is key for message passing and physics simulation in the new online worlds, is also participating.

The approach combines the mainframe’s ability to accelerate work via “specialty processors,” with a networking architecture for the ultra-fast communication needed to create shared virtual worlds with large numbers of users. The Cell/B.E. will handle the complex simulation needed in creating virtual worlds -- for example, a ball thrown in a virtual reality world must obey the laws of gravity.

“As online environments increasingly incorporate aspects of virtual reality -- including 3D graphics and lifelike, real-time interaction among many simultaneous users -- companies of all types will need a computing platform that can handle a broad spectrum of demanding performance and security requirements,” said Jim Stallings, general manager, IBM System z. “To serve this market, the Cell/B.E. processor is the perfect complement to the mainframe, the only server designed to handle millions of simultaneous users.”