MIPS architecture

MIPS, for Microprocessor without interlocked pipeline stages, is a RISC microprocessor architecture developed by MIPS Computer Systems Inc. MIPS designs are used in SGI's computer product line, and have found broad application in embedded systems, Windows CE devices, and Cisco routers. The Nintendo 64 console, Sony PlayStation console, Sony PlayStation 2 console, and Sony PSP handheld system use MIPS processors. By the late 1990s it was estimated that one in three RISC chips produced were MIPS-based designs.

Related Topics:
RISC - MIPS Computer Systems Inc. - SGI - Embedded systems - Windows CE - Cisco - Router - Nintendo 64 - Sony - PlayStation - PlayStation 2 - PSP - By the late 1990s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit implementations (generally 32-bit wide registers and data paths), while later versions were 64-bit implementations. Five backward-compatible revisions of the MIPS instruction set exist, named MIPS I, MIPS II, MIPS III, MIPS IV, and MIPS 32/64. The latest of these, MIPS 32/64, defines a control register set as well as the instruction set. Several "add-on" extensions are also available, including MIPS-3D which is a simple set of floating-point SIMD instructions dedicated to common 3D tasks, MDMX which is a more extensive integer SIMD instruction set using the 64-bit floating-point registers, MIPS16 which adds compression to the instruction stream to make programs take up less room (allegedly a response to the Thumb encoding in the ARM architecture), and the recent addition of MIPS MT, new multithreading additions to the system similar to HyperThreading in the latest Intel lineup.

Related Topics:
Instruction set - SIMD - Thumb - ARM architecture - Multithreading - HyperThreading - Intel

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Because the designers created such a clean instruction set (see Instructions), computer architecture courses in universities and technical schools often study the MIPS architecture. The design of the MIPS CPU family, together with SPARC, another early RISC architecture, greatly influenced later RISC designs like DEC Alpha.

Related Topics:
Instructions - Computer architecture - SPARC - RISC - DEC Alpha

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~