PS3 Cell Processor Security Architecture

hoyhoy writes "IBM Developerworks is discussing the PS3 Cell Processor Security Architecture today on Developerworks. It details the hardware level security for isolating processes that exists in the Cell processor's architecture." From the article: "The architecture's main strength is its ability to allow an application to protect itself using the hardware security features instead of the conventional method of solely relying on the operating system or other supervisory software for protection. Therefore, if the operating system is compromised by an attack, the hardware security features can still protect the application and its valuable data. As an analogy, consider the protection the supervisory software provides as the castle's moat and the Cell BE security hardware features as the locked safe inside the castle."

Comments

Re:Uhh....whaaat?

[IamTheRealMike]

If you had RTFA you'd know this isn't about mod chips - the article explicitly states that this kind of protection is not about resisting hardware attacks and only concerns software.

WHY are you implementing it on a GAME CONSOLE?

Maybe because the Cell is designed to be used for more things than just the PlayStation?

Re:Uhh....whaaat?

[frostfreek]

Zonk is contributing to his confusion by posting "PS3 Cell Processor Security Architecture" instead of "Cell Broadband Engine ..."

Re:Uhh....whaaat?

[powerlord]

Answer: Sony is invested in the Cell architecture along with IBM and hopes it will make a good core for a multi-media hub, by pushing chip holding multiple cores that can handle parallellized multimedia transformations quickly. Time will tell if IBM and Sony got this one right.

Obligatory Bonus Answer: Slashdot editors can't usually be bothered to RTFA or edit. :)

Alternate Bonus Answer: Most readers might recognize "PS3" over "Cell Processor" and wonder what the latter has to do with their lives, while the former might be critical to their future :D