51 

2004 

IBM researchers demonstrate a technique that triples the performance of a standard transistor 

used in semiconductors by a process that is compatible with conventional CMOS technology, a 

major step toward achieving continued performance enhancement of chips and the electronic 

systems that use them.  

IBM, Sony Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. say they have powered on the 

first Cell processor based workstation. Cell is the code name for an advanced microprocessor 

under development by IBM, Toshiba and Sony Group. The companies expect that a one rack 

Cell processor based workstation will reach a performance of 16 teraflops or trillions of floating 

point calculations per second.  

Facilities 

In May, IBM opens its first Deep Computing Capacity on Demand center in Europe. The new 

facility, located in Montpellier, France, is the second of its kind in the world, and will provide 

customers access via the Internet, to immensely powerful, highly secure supercomputers. The 

Montpelier center joins IBM's Deep Computing Capacity on Demand center in Poughkeepsie, 

N.Y., as the only two facilities in the world at the time to offer supercomputing power on tap to 

companies in industries such as petroleum, life sciences, digital animation and financial services.  

Three months later, in response to the petroleum industry's increasing need for supercomputing 

power in oil exploration and production, IBM announces plans to open the third IBM Deep 

Computing Capacity on Demand (DCCOD) center in Houston, Tex. The new DCCOD in  

Houston will join IBM's existing centers in Poughkeepsie and Montpellier which enable 

customers to easily draw on massive supercomputing power to help meet critical short term 

business needs, while avoiding large upfront capital outlays and long term fixed IT costs.  

IBM opens an European RFID (radio frequency identification) Testing & Solution Center in La 

Gaude, France, to allow companies based in Europe to test RFID solutions in real customer 

environments. The La Gaude facility complements existing IBM development centers in 

Gaithersburg, Md., and Tokyo, Japan.  

The company opens a new SMB Innovation Center in Beijing, China, giving IBM researchers 

and independent software vendors (ISVs) access to over ten million small and mid sized 

business in China. IBM is providing the ISVs with resources to develop open solutions designed 

to help SMB customers improve their global supply chain. The SMB Innovation Center will be 

an extension to IBM's China Research Lab, which will double in size to accommodate the new 

facility.  

IBM establishes the IBM eServer xSeries Taiwan Development Center (xTDC), IBM's first 

xSeries development center in Asia Pacific and the first such center opened by IBM outside the 

United States. The Taiwan xTDC will play a key role in connecting local vendors with IBM's 

global resources for Intel based server development.  

1406HHX