MIPS Technologies
Encyclopedia
MIPS Technologies, Inc. , formerly MIPS Computer Systems, Inc., is most widely known for developing the MIPS architecture
and a series of pioneering RISC
chips
. MIPS provides processor architectures
and cores for digital home, networking and mobile applications.
MIPS Computer Systems Inc. was founded in 1984 by a group of researchers from Stanford University
that included John L. Hennessy
, as a vendor of microprocessor chips.
In 1988, MIPS Computer Systems designs were noticed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) and the company adopted the MIPS architecture for its computers. A year later, in December 1989, MIPS held its first IPO
(after which it was acquired by Silicon Graphics (SGI)
, later spun off, then IPOed again in 1998).
After developing the R2000
and R3000
microprocessors, a management change brought along the larger dreams of being a computer vendor. The company found itself unable to compete in the computer market against much larger companies and was struggling to support the costs of developing both the chips and the systems (MIPS Magnum
). To secure the supply of future generations of MIPS microprocessors (the 64-bit R4000
), SGI acquired the company in 1992 for $333 million and re-named it as MIPS Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of SGI.
During SGI's ownership of MIPS, the company introduced the R8000
in 1994 and the R10000
in 1996 and a follow up the R12000 in 1997. During this time, two future microprocessors code-named The Beast and Capitan were in development; these were cancelled after SGI decided to migrate to the Itanium
architecture in 1998. As a result, MIPS was spun out as an intellectual property licensing company, offering licences to the MIPS architecture as well as microprocessor core designs.
On June 30, 1998, MIPS held an IPO after raising about $16.3 million with an offering price of $14 dollars a share. In 1999, SGI announced it would overhaul its operations; it planned to continue introducing new MIPS processors until 2002, but its server business would include Intel’s processor architectures as well. SGI spun MIPS out completely on June 20, 2000 by distributing all its interest as stock dividend to the stockholders.
Some notable people who worked in MIPS: David Hitz
, Joseph DiNucci, James Billmaier
, Steve Blank, Dan Levin, Bob Miller, Skip Stritter, John L. Hennessy
, John Mashey
, John P. McCaskey, Stratton Sclavos
. Board members included: Bill Davidow
.
In 2010, Sandeep Vij was named CEO of MIPS Technologies. Vij studied under Dr. John Hennessy as a Stanford University grad student. Prior to taking over at MIPS, Vij was an executive at Cavium Networks
, Xilinx
and Altera
.
In addition to its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California
, MIPS has development facilities in Shanghai
, China
and Beaverton, Oregon
. It also has offices in Hsin-chu, Taiwan
; Tokyo, Japan; Remscheid, Germany
and Haifa, Israel.
The MIPS32 architecture is a high-performance 32-bit instruction set architecture (ISA) that is used in applications such as 32-bit microcontrollers, home entertainment, home networking devices and mobile designs. MIPS customers license the architecture to develop their own processors or license off-the-shelf cores from MIPS that are based on the architecture.
The MIPS32 cores include the 4K, M14K, 24K, 34K, 74K, 1004K (multicore and multithreaded) and the 1074K (superscalar and multithreaded) families.
The MIPS64 architecture is a high performance 64-bit instruction set architecture that is widely used in networking infrastructure equipment through MIPS licensees such as Cavium Networks and NetLogic Microsystems.
SmartCE (Connected Entertainment) is a reference platform that integrates Android, Adobe Flash
platform for TV, Skype
, the Home Jinni ConnecTV application and other applications. SmartCE lets OEM customers create integrated products more quickly.
Android: Google’s Android operating system that is processor-agnostic, is built on the Linux kernel. MIPS originally ported Android to its architecture for embedded products beyond the mobile handset, where it was originally targeted by Google. In 2010, MIPS and its licensee Sigma Designs announced the world’s first Android set-top boxes. By porting to Android, MIPS processors power smartphones and tablets
running on the operating system.
Real-time operating systems that run on MIPS include CMX System, eCosCentric, ENEA, Express Logic, FreeRTOS, Green Hills Software, LynuxWorks, Mentor Graphics, Micrium, QNX Software Systems, Quadros Systems Inc., Segger and Wind River.
MIPS Technologies has a strong customer licensee base in home electronics; 75 percent of Blu-ray Disc players are running on MIPS Technologies processors. In the digital home, the company’s processors are predominately found in digital TVs and set-top boxes.
Within the networking segment, licensees include Cavium Networks and Netlogic Microsystems. Cavium has used up to 16 MIPS cores for its OCTEON family network reference designs. Netlogic ships Linux-ready MIPS64-based XLP, XLR, and XLS multicore, multithreaded processors. Licensees using MIPS to build smartphones and tablets include Actions Semiconductor
and Ingenic Semiconductor
. Tablets based on MIPS include the Cruz tablets from Velocity Micro. TCL Corporation
is using MIPS processors for the development of smartphones.
Other licensees include Broadcom
, which has developed MIPS-based CPUs for over a decade, Microchip Technology
, which leverages MIPS processors for its 32-bit PIC32 microcontrollers, and Mobileye
, whose EyeQ2 and EyeQ3 are based on cores licensed from MIPS.
MIPS architecture
MIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...
and a series of pioneering RISC
Reduced instruction set computer
Reduced instruction set computing, or RISC , is a CPU design strategy based on the insight that simplified instructions can provide higher performance if this simplicity enables much faster execution of each instruction. A computer based on this strategy is a reduced instruction set computer...
chips
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
. MIPS provides processor architectures
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
and cores for digital home, networking and mobile applications.
MIPS Computer Systems Inc. was founded in 1984 by a group of researchers from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
that included John L. Hennessy
John L. Hennessy
John LeRoy Hennessy is an American computer scientist and academician. Hennessy is one of the founders of MIPS Computer Systems Inc. and is the 10th President of Stanford University.-Background:...
, as a vendor of microprocessor chips.
In 1988, MIPS Computer Systems designs were noticed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) and the company adopted the MIPS architecture for its computers. A year later, in December 1989, MIPS held its first IPO
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
(after which it was acquired by Silicon Graphics (SGI)
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
, later spun off, then IPOed again in 1998).
After developing the R2000
R2000 (microprocessor)
The R2000 is a microprocessor chip set developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS I instruction set architecture . Introduced in January 1986, it was the first commercial implementation of the MIPS architecture and the first merchant RISC processor available to all companies...
and R3000
R3000
The R3000 is a microprocessor chip set developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS I instruction set architecture . Introduced in June 1988, it was the second MIPS implementation, succeeding the R2000 as the flagship MIPS microprocessor...
microprocessors, a management change brought along the larger dreams of being a computer vendor. The company found itself unable to compete in the computer market against much larger companies and was struggling to support the costs of developing both the chips and the systems (MIPS Magnum
MIPS Magnum
The MIPS Magnum was a line of computer workstations designed by MIPS Computer Systems, Inc. and based on the MIPS series of RISC microprocessors. The first Magnum was released in March, 1990, and production of various models continued until 1993 when SGI bought MIPS Technologies. SGI cancelled the...
). To secure the supply of future generations of MIPS microprocessors (the 64-bit R4000
R4000
The R4000 is a microprocessor developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS III instruction set architecture . Officially announced on 1 October 1991, it was one of the first 64-bit microprocessors and the first MIPS III implementation...
), SGI acquired the company in 1992 for $333 million and re-named it as MIPS Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of SGI.
During SGI's ownership of MIPS, the company introduced the R8000
R8000
The R8000 is a microprocessor chipset developed by MIPS Technologies, Inc. , Toshiba, and Weitek. It was the first implementation of the MIPS IV instruction set architecture. The R8000 is also known as the TFP, for Tremendous Floating-Point, its name during development.-History:Development of the...
in 1994 and the R10000
R10000
The R10000, code-named "T5", is a RISC microprocessor implementation of the MIPS IV instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies, Inc. , then a division of Silicon Graphics, Inc. . The chief designers were Chris Rowen and Kenneth C. Yeager...
in 1996 and a follow up the R12000 in 1997. During this time, two future microprocessors code-named The Beast and Capitan were in development; these were cancelled after SGI decided to migrate to the Itanium
Itanium
Itanium is a family of 64-bit Intel microprocessors that implement the Intel Itanium architecture . Intel markets the processors for enterprise servers and high-performance computing systems...
architecture in 1998. As a result, MIPS was spun out as an intellectual property licensing company, offering licences to the MIPS architecture as well as microprocessor core designs.
On June 30, 1998, MIPS held an IPO after raising about $16.3 million with an offering price of $14 dollars a share. In 1999, SGI announced it would overhaul its operations; it planned to continue introducing new MIPS processors until 2002, but its server business would include Intel’s processor architectures as well. SGI spun MIPS out completely on June 20, 2000 by distributing all its interest as stock dividend to the stockholders.
Some notable people who worked in MIPS: David Hitz
David Hitz
David Hitz is an American engineer. In 1992, he and James Lau founded NetApp, where he became an executive vice president.A graduate of Deep Springs College, David earned a BSE from Princeton University and went on to work as a senior engineer at Auspex and as an engineer at MIPS Computer...
, Joseph DiNucci, James Billmaier
James Billmaier
-Biography:James Billmaier is the founding partner of Charge Northwest, an electric vehicle infrastructure advisory and software integration Company. He is a Graduate of Santa Clara University. He is also the author of Jolt!: The Impending Dominance of the Electric Car and Why America Must Take...
, Steve Blank, Dan Levin, Bob Miller, Skip Stritter, John L. Hennessy
John L. Hennessy
John LeRoy Hennessy is an American computer scientist and academician. Hennessy is one of the founders of MIPS Computer Systems Inc. and is the 10th President of Stanford University.-Background:...
, John Mashey
John Mashey
John Mashey is a computer scientist, director and entrepreneur.Mashey holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Pennsylvania State University, where he developed the ASSIST assembler language teaching software. He worked on the PWB/UNIX operating system at Bell Labs from 1973 to 1983, authoring the...
, John P. McCaskey, Stratton Sclavos
Stratton Sclavos
Stratton Sclavos was chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of VeriSign, a security services and network infrastructure company, until his resignation on May 29, 2007. Sclavos has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California,...
. Board members included: Bill Davidow
Bill Davidow
William H. DavidowBill Davidow is a Silicon Valley engineer, marketing executive, author and venture capitalist. Davidow served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Intel Corporation in the 1980s, and was part of an early group of Silicon Valley venture capitalists...
.
In 2010, Sandeep Vij was named CEO of MIPS Technologies. Vij studied under Dr. John Hennessy as a Stanford University grad student. Prior to taking over at MIPS, Vij was an executive at Cavium Networks
Cavium Networks
Cavium is a San Jose, California-based company specializing in ARM-based and MIPS-based network, video and security processors. Cavium offers processor and board level products targeting routers, switches, appliances, storage and servers.-Major acquisitions::...
, Xilinx
Xilinx
Xilinx, Inc. is a supplier of programmable logic devices. It is known for inventing the field programmable gate array and as the first semiconductor company with a fabless manufacturing model....
and Altera
Altera
Altera Corporation is a Silicon Valley manufacturer of PLDs . The company offered its first programmable logic device in 1984. PLDs can be reprogrammed during the design cycle as well as in the field to perform multiple functions, and they support a fairly fast design process...
.
In addition to its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...
, MIPS has development facilities in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...
. It also has offices in Hsin-chu, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
; Tokyo, Japan; Remscheid, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Haifa, Israel.
Technology
MIPS Technologies’ processor architectures and cores are used in home entertainment, networking and communications products. The company licenses its 32- and 64-bit architectures as well as 32-bit cores.The MIPS32 architecture is a high-performance 32-bit instruction set architecture (ISA) that is used in applications such as 32-bit microcontrollers, home entertainment, home networking devices and mobile designs. MIPS customers license the architecture to develop their own processors or license off-the-shelf cores from MIPS that are based on the architecture.
The MIPS32 cores include the 4K, M14K, 24K, 34K, 74K, 1004K (multicore and multithreaded) and the 1074K (superscalar and multithreaded) families.
The MIPS64 architecture is a high performance 64-bit instruction set architecture that is widely used in networking infrastructure equipment through MIPS licensees such as Cavium Networks and NetLogic Microsystems.
SmartCE (Connected Entertainment) is a reference platform that integrates Android, Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
platform for TV, Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
, the Home Jinni ConnecTV application and other applications. SmartCE lets OEM customers create integrated products more quickly.
Operating Systems
MIPS Technologies is predominately used in conjunction with Android and Linux operating systems.Android: Google’s Android operating system that is processor-agnostic, is built on the Linux kernel. MIPS originally ported Android to its architecture for embedded products beyond the mobile handset, where it was originally targeted by Google. In 2010, MIPS and its licensee Sigma Designs announced the world’s first Android set-top boxes. By porting to Android, MIPS processors power smartphones and tablets
Tablet computer
A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen...
running on the operating system.
Real-time operating systems that run on MIPS include CMX System, eCosCentric, ENEA, Express Logic, FreeRTOS, Green Hills Software, LynuxWorks, Mentor Graphics, Micrium, QNX Software Systems, Quadros Systems Inc., Segger and Wind River.
Licensees and Products
MIPS Technologies creates the processor architecture that is licensed to chip makers. The company has 125+ licensees who ship more than 500 million MIPS-based processors each year.MIPS Technologies has a strong customer licensee base in home electronics; 75 percent of Blu-ray Disc players are running on MIPS Technologies processors. In the digital home, the company’s processors are predominately found in digital TVs and set-top boxes.
Within the networking segment, licensees include Cavium Networks and Netlogic Microsystems. Cavium has used up to 16 MIPS cores for its OCTEON family network reference designs. Netlogic ships Linux-ready MIPS64-based XLP, XLR, and XLS multicore, multithreaded processors. Licensees using MIPS to build smartphones and tablets include Actions Semiconductor
Actions Semiconductor
Actions Semiconductor Co., Ltd. is a system-on-a-chip company based in Guangdong, China. Actions develops system-on-a-chip designs for digital audio players and photo viewers.S1 MP3 players use chipsets designed by Actions....
and Ingenic Semiconductor
Ingenic Semiconductor
Ingenic Semiconductor is a Chinese semiconductor company founded 2005 and based in Beijing.- XBurst Embeded CPUs :The XBurst CPU architecture is compatible with MIPSII and has a 8-staged pipeline.XBurst CPU technology consists of 2 parts:...
. Tablets based on MIPS include the Cruz tablets from Velocity Micro. TCL Corporation
TCL Corporation
TCL Corporation is a multinational electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong, China. In 2010 it was the world's 25th-largest consumer electronics producer and sixth-largest television producer .TCL comprises three listed companies: TCL Corporation , which is listed on the Shenzhen...
is using MIPS processors for the development of smartphones.
Other licensees include Broadcom
Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los...
, which has developed MIPS-based CPUs for over a decade, Microchip Technology
Microchip Technology
Microchip Technology is an American manufacturer of microcontroller, memory and analog semiconductors. Its products include microcontrollers , Serial EEPROM devices, Serial SRAM devices, KEELOQ devices, radio frequency devices, thermal, power and battery management analog devices, as well as...
, which leverages MIPS processors for its 32-bit PIC32 microcontrollers, and Mobileye
Mobileye
Mobileye is a technology company that focuses on the development of vision-based Advanced Driver Assistance Systems providing warnings for collision prevention and mitigation. Mobileye offers a wide range of driver safety solutions combining artificial vision image processing, multiple...
, whose EyeQ2 and EyeQ3 are based on cores licensed from MIPS.
Company timeline
- 1981: Dr. John Hennessy at Stanford University leads research in building a microprocessor using RISC principles.
- 1984: MIPS Computer Systems, Inc. co-founded by Dr. John Hennessy, Skip StritterEdward P. StritterEdward P. Stritter, engineer and entrepreneur, was the chief architect of the Motorola 68000 microprocessor , a co-founder of the first commercial RISC company MIPS Computer Systems, the founder of Clarity Wireless, and founder of NeTPower...
, and Dr. John Moussouris - 1986: First product ships: R2000R2000R2000 might refer to:*R2000 ; a microprocessor developed by MIPS Computer Systems*Pratt & Whitney R-2000 - an aircraft engine*R-2000 program - a Natural Resources Canada program for the construction of energy efficient homes...
microprocessor, Unix workstation, and optimizing compilers - 1988: R3000R3000The R3000 is a microprocessor chip set developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS I instruction set architecture . Introduced in June 1988, it was the second MIPS implementation, succeeding the R2000 as the flagship MIPS microprocessor...
microprocessor - 1989: First IPO in November as MIPS Computer Systems with Bob Miller as CEO
- 1991: R4000R4000The R4000 is a microprocessor developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS III instruction set architecture . Officially announced on 1 October 1991, it was one of the first 64-bit microprocessors and the first MIPS III implementation...
microprocessor - 1992: SGI acquires MIPS Computer Systems. Transforms it into internal MIPS Group, and then incorporates and renames it to MIPS Technologies, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of SGI)
- 1994 R8000R8000The R8000 is a microprocessor chipset developed by MIPS Technologies, Inc. , Toshiba, and Weitek. It was the first implementation of the MIPS IV instruction set architecture. The R8000 is also known as the TFP, for Tremendous Floating-Point, its name during development.-History:Development of the...
microprocessor - 1996 R10000R10000The R10000, code-named "T5", is a RISC microprocessor implementation of the MIPS IV instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies, Inc. , then a division of Silicon Graphics, Inc. . The chief designers were Chris Rowen and Kenneth C. Yeager...
microprocessor - 1998: Re-IPO as MIPS Technologies, Inc
- 2002: Acquires Algorithmics Ltd, a UK-based MIPS development hardware/software and consultancy company.
- September 6, 2005: Acquires First Silicon Solutions (FS2), a Lake Oswego, Oregon company as a wholly owned subsidiary. FS2 specializes in silicon IP, design services and OCI (On-Chip Instrumentation) development tools for programming, testing, debug and trace of embedded systems in SoC, SOPC, FPGA, ASSP and ASIC devices.
- 2007: MIPS Technologies acquires Portugal-based mixed-signal intellectual property company ChipideaChipideaChipidea was a Portuguese analog semiconductor IP design center, headquarterd in Oeiras, Greater Lisbon subregion, which had been founded in 1997 by José Epifânio da Franca. In August of 2007 it was bought by the US-based company MIPS Technologies for $147 million in cash plus future...
- February, 2009: MIPS Joins Linux Foundation
- May 8, 2009: ChipideaChipideaChipidea was a Portuguese analog semiconductor IP design center, headquarterd in Oeiras, Greater Lisbon subregion, which had been founded in 1997 by José Epifânio da Franca. In August of 2007 it was bought by the US-based company MIPS Technologies for $147 million in cash plus future...
is sold to SynopsysSynopsysSynopsys, Inc. is one of the largest companies in the Electronic Design Automation industry. Synopsys' first and best-known product is Design Compiler, a logic-synthesis tool. Synopsys offers a wide range of other products used in the design of an application-specific integrated circuit...
. - June, 2009: MIPS ports to Android
- September 30, 2009: MIPS Technologies joins the Open Handset AllianceOpen Handset AllianceThe Open Handset Alliance is a consortium of 84 firms to develop open standards for mobile devices. Member firms include Google, HTC, Sony, Dell, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, T-Mobile, Nvidia, and Wind River Systems.-History:The OHA was...
- January, 2010: Sandeep Vij appointed as CEO
- January, 2011: MIPS introduces the first Android-MIPS based Set top box at CES
- April, 2011: MIPS Technologies ports Google’s Android 3.0, “Honeycomb”, to the MIPS’ architecture