SYSTEMS

Mercury Computer Systems will unveil its second Cell BE processor-based product, code- named "Turismo," at Supercomputing 2005. Featuring the Mercury MultiCore Plus Advantage, the Turismo system is designed to pack 800 GigaFLOPS into a 600 cubic-inch footprint, and will offer customers the opportunity to assemble some of the world's densest computing solutions in terms of performance. Four Turismo boxes in a 5U configuration are expected to yield a peak performance of 3.2 single-precision TeraFLOPS, and more than 25 TeraFLOPS in a six-foot rack. According to Mercury's CTO, Craig Lund: "The amount of processing that Turismo is designed to provide in such a small footprint is simply astounding. We expect that our new Cell processor-based offering will truly make a difference for many customers in solving problems that require this caliber of performance density in an affordable solution." As announced in June 2005, Mercury is teaming with IBM and its Engineering & Technology Services business to integrate Cell technology into a range of products designed to address computationally intensive applications in aerospace and defense, seismic, semiconductor test, and medical imaging, as well as other markets. Since June, the two organizations have been collaborating on multiple product offerings, including the recently announced Dual Cell-Based Blade, and have been working together with multiple customers. Compared to the Dual Cell-Based Blade, Turismo will offer an alternative packaging approach, with 60 percent denser solutions, increased I/O performance and flexibility, and significantly increased memory options. Turismo is designed to deliver up to 800 GigaFLOPS of acceleration to the desktop for high-computation rendering and imaging applications. Turismo is also ideally suited to enterprise applications such as centralizing imaging resources in hospitals and similar environments. Turismo is designed with: * Mercury MultiCore Plus Advantage * Up to four Cell BE processors in a computationally dense package * Dual 4X InfiniBand support, plus multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports for multi-box communications * Connectivity to a high-end workstation via 16x PCI Express high-speed interconnect * Yellow Dog Linux Board Support Package from Terra Soft Solutions. "We are very excited to offer such a flexible Cell processor-based solution to our customers," said Randy Dean, Vice President, Business and Technology Development. "The broad applicability of this product enables us to solve tough problems for some of our current customers, and also puts us to work in new markets." "The work between IBM and Mercury is a great example of collaboration between two world-class organizations," said Raj Desai, Vice President, Engineering & Technology Services, IBM. "By working with IBM Engineering & Technology Services and incorporating Cell microprocessor technology into products outside the gaming space, Mercury can develop unique technology solutions for demanding applications such as sonar, radar, MRI and digital X- ray." Turismo availability is planned for the third quarter of calendar 2006, with production planned for early 2007. For more information, visit Mercury in Booth 1664 at Supercomputing 2005.