We heard last week about IBM designing blade centers that would make use of Cell servers, a novel idea and one that is quite fascinating, though many wondered why, and wondered whether or not people would actually go for a console CPU in a server. Apparently, yes. A company called Raytheon, a defense contractor, has been researching into the Cell, and has determined there is the potential for massive performance increases in sensor networks. What gripes they had seem to have the potential to be resolved by Cell's flexibility, with IBM open to slight redesigns to custom-fit the CPU for different scenarios.
For example, defense contractor Raytheon is exploring whether it can use Cell to dramatically improve the performance of sensor networks. Raytheon's chief technology officer, Peter Pao, called Cell "a very exciting technology" with "a lot of promise," but said Raytheon is still evaluating how to rewrite software and redesign systems to work with Cell.
Particularly, there were problems noted with heat production. IBM apparently will be able to redesign the chip to fit into a more embedded environment, which would make it even more attractive to other companies.