IBM, Sony and Toshiba unveiled the first details of the Cell microprocessor that is to equip the PlayStation 3. According to the companies, it is a multicore chip comprising a 64-bit Power processor core and multiple synergistic processor cores capable of massive floating point processing, all optimized for compute-intensive workloads and broadband rich media applications. More info on the Cell processor will be relead during the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) on 6 February 2005. Other characteristics include:

• Multi-thread, multicore architecture.
• Supports multiple operating systems.
• Substantial bus bandwidth to/from main memory, as well as companion chips.
• Flexible on-chip I/O (input/output) interface.
• Real-time resource management system for real-time applications.
• On-chip hardware in support of security system for intellectual property protection.
• Implemented in 90 nanometer silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology.