▁set ▁up ▁a ▁D MA ▁operation ▁within ▁the ▁system ▁address ▁space . ▁ ▁In ▁one ▁typical ▁usage ▁scenario , ▁the ▁system ▁will ▁load ▁the ▁S PE s ▁with ▁small ▁programs ▁( similar ▁to ▁threads ), ▁chain ing ▁the ▁S PE s ▁together ▁to ▁handle ▁each ▁step ▁in ▁a ▁complex ▁operation . ▁For ▁instance , ▁a ▁set - top ▁box ▁might ▁load ▁programs ▁for ▁reading ▁a ▁DVD , ▁video ▁and ▁audio ▁dec oding , ▁and ▁display , ▁and ▁the ▁data ▁would ▁be ▁passed ▁off ▁from ▁S PE ▁to ▁S PE ▁until ▁finally ▁ending ▁up ▁on ▁the ▁TV . ▁Another ▁possibility ▁is ▁to ▁partition ▁the ▁input ▁data ▁set ▁and ▁have ▁several ▁S PE s ▁performing ▁the ▁same ▁kind ▁of ▁operation ▁in ▁parallel . ▁At ▁ 3 . 2   G Hz , ▁each ▁S PE ▁gives ▁a ▁theoretical ▁ 2 5 . 6 ▁G F LO PS ▁of ▁single ▁precision ▁performance . ▁ ▁Comp ared ▁to ▁its ▁personal ▁computer ▁contempor aries , ▁the ▁relatively ▁high ▁overall ▁floating ▁point ▁performance ▁of ▁a ▁Cell ▁processor ▁seem ingly ▁d war fs ▁the ▁ab ilities ▁of ▁the ▁SI MD ▁unit ▁in ▁CPU s ▁like ▁the ▁Pent ium ▁ 4 ▁and ▁the ▁Ath lon ▁ 6 4 . ▁However , ▁comparing ▁only ▁floating ▁point ▁ab ilities ▁of ▁a ▁system ▁is ▁a ▁one - dimensional ▁and ▁application - specific ▁metric . ▁Un like ▁a ▁Cell ▁processor , ▁such ▁desktop ▁CPU s ▁are ▁more ▁su ited ▁to ▁the ▁general ▁purpose ▁software ▁usually ▁run ▁on ▁personal ▁computers . ▁In ▁addition ▁to ▁executing ▁multiple