GOVERNMENT

TotalView Will Allow Developers to Harness the Cell and Deliver Software with Increased Capabilities and Performance: TotalView Technologies today announced that the TotalView source code debugging, analysis and memory error detection tool will support the Sony BCU-100 Cell Platform. TotalView will provide users of the BCU-100 platform with the ability to develop, troubleshoot and quickly deliver high-throughput and high-performance video and data processing applications in the computer graphics, physics simulation and computer visualization markets. Sony’s new BCU-100 provides a heterogeneous multi-core architecture to improve the efficiency of workflows. The BCU-100 incorporates the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.) and RSX technologies, originally developed for use within the PLAYSTATION3 system, to bring a new level of capability to the production of digital video, including movies and commercials. “With the resolution required to create digital video on the rise, the time needed for post production work has significantly increased, resulting in the demand for more efficient workflows,” said Yasuhiko Yokote, head of the Cell Application Development Center, SONY Corporate R&D. “The new BCU-100 Computing Unit reflects Sony’s efforts to accelerate the process, and the addition of a powerful development tool such as TotalView is a perfect complement to the platform.” TotalView provides developers using the Cell/B.E. processor with an intuitive and powerful way to examine, explore and troubleshoot program execution. By clearly presenting the application’s multi-thread parallelism to the user, it significantly reduces the time and expense required to create or adapt programs for the Cell’s eight-way parallel synergistic processing elements. The memory debugging capabilities also help developers make efficient use of the system memory in these highly dynamic and data-heavy applications. “We are excited to join forces with Sony in order to provide our customers with a comprehensive solution that allows them to develop high-quality digital media applications more efficiently,” said Jim Chafel, vice president of business development at TotalView Technologies. “As both companies have enjoyed a longstanding reputation of innovation within our respective industries, this partnership was a natural fit.”