▁processing ▁applications , ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁many ▁other ▁forms ▁of ▁dedicated ▁computation . ▁ ▁It ▁was ▁developed ▁by ▁Sony , ▁T os hib a , ▁and ▁IBM , ▁an ▁al liance ▁known ▁as ▁" ST I ". ▁The ▁architect ural ▁design ▁and ▁first ▁implementation ▁were ▁carried ▁out ▁at ▁the ▁ST I ▁Design ▁Center ▁in ▁Austin , ▁Texas ▁over ▁a ▁four - year ▁period ▁beginning ▁March ▁ 2 0 0 1 ▁on ▁a ▁budget ▁reported ▁by ▁Sony ▁as ▁approaching ▁US $ 4 0 0 ▁million . ▁Cell ▁is ▁sh orth and ▁for ▁Cell ▁Broad band ▁Engine ▁Architecture , ▁commonly ▁abbre vi ated ▁C BE A ▁in ▁full ▁or ▁Cell ▁BE ▁in ▁part . ▁ ▁The ▁first ▁major ▁commercial ▁application ▁of ▁Cell ▁was ▁in ▁Sony ' s ▁Play Station ▁ 3 ▁game ▁console , ▁released ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 6 . ▁In ▁May ▁ 2 0 0 8 , ▁the ▁Cell - based ▁IBM ▁Road runner ▁super comput er ▁became ▁the ▁first ▁T OP 5 0 0 ▁LIN P ACK ▁sust ained ▁ 1 . 0 ▁p eta f lo ps ▁system . ▁Mercur y ▁Computer ▁Systems ▁also ▁developed ▁designs ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁Cell . ▁ ▁The ▁Cell ▁architecture ▁includes ▁a ▁memory ▁coh er ence ▁architecture ▁that ▁emphas izes ▁power ▁efficiency , ▁prior it izes ▁band width ▁over ▁low ▁laten cy , ▁and ▁fav ors ▁peak ▁computational ▁through put ▁over ▁simplicity ▁of ▁program ▁code . ▁For ▁these ▁reasons , ▁Cell ▁is ▁widely ▁regarded ▁as ▁a ▁challeng ing ▁environment ▁for ▁software ▁development . ▁IBM ▁provides