Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] PS3/Cell BE platform

[Jason]

Newell Jensen wrote:
> > Yes and no. From casual observation (I don't have a ppc platform 
> > currently), all of gnuradio's dependencies already run on most linux 
> > ppc and ppc64 distributions.  So getting it up and running shouldn't 
> > be too difficult.
> >
> > The fun part will be modding GnuRadio and its dependencies to take 
> > advantage of the SPEs.  So, even though there is a libfft (for 
> > example) running on ppc/ppc64, it doesn't take advantage of the SPEs.  
> > To do so is a bit more involved than just swapping out some math 
> > instructions/functions.  It involves, from preliminary review, 
> > wrapping the chunk of code you want on the SPE in an spu_thread, 
> > shipping data in and out via DMA, minimizing ooo (out of order, ie 
> > branchy) code, then reworking the algorithm to take advantage of the 
> > SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) instruction set.  Once that's 
> > done, recompile it with IBM's modified GNU toolchain, and watch it 
> > crash.  :)
>
> Thanks for the info, it helped.  From what I have read it seems like SP3 
> is the only way to currently get a hold of the Cell BE, without having 
> to buy an expensive workstation or server, right?  I am just curious 
> because I am looking to get a new computer soon that I will be using for 
> graduate school working on SDR (As of now, I am looking to work on GPR 
> and possible improvements of this), and from the reading I have done it 
> seems like this would be a great architecture for SDR.  Curious if you 
> knew if they were going to offer this chipset for desktops or what your 
> opinion about switching to that platform was?

From my digging, the PS3 is the only way for the average joe to get a 
CellBE right now.  It may be good for SDR in the future, but keep in 
mind, it doesn't have any PCI/PCI-X/whatever slots, the drive is a 60GB 
2.5" SATA, the ram is soldered down, and so there is little to no room 
for upgrades.  Which isn't a show stopper, it's just fairly limiting.

On the software side, it's going to take a while for the OSS hackers to 
figure out how to best take advantage of the Cell and mod their 
packages.  So unless you're willing to dive in, it's going to be a while.

Personally, I would only buy a PS3 for SDR if you either
        a.) have disposable income.
        b.) play a lot of games, and are willing to save up the cash.

And that's only if your interested in porting GnuRadio to the Cell BE. 
Currently, nothing has been ported, let alone tested on it as is.  If 
you just want to dive into SDR, I would advise against it.

hth,

Jason.