Beyond the Hype: MIPS® - the Processor for MCUs

A market leader in the Digital Home and Networking sectors, MIPS has adapted its industry-standard MIPS32® architecture to address the requirements of 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) product development, offering a higher-performance, more feature-rich and lower-power solution than that offered by competing cores based on the ARM® architecture. This paper outlines the design features that are implemented in MIPS® processor cores that contribute to their industry-leading performance. Additionally, we compare and contrast MCU design solutions based on the MIPS and ARM architectures. We will provide you with the substance beyond the hype, and key considerations for choosing a MIPS processor core.

In addition, you could learn from Microchip's point of view on Application Portability for 32-Bit microcontrollers.

In November of 2008, ARM® announced the availability of the Cortex™ Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS). They claim that this will reduce the cost of designing software when creating projects for new devices or migrating existing software between Cortex-M based microcontrollers from different silicon vendors. This sounds very good, but is it valid? This paper investigates these claims to determine just how valid they are. We will take a look at the components of a typical microcontroller and then see just what can or cannot be gained by adding an abstraction layer on top of the typical peripheral firmware libraries.

Please fill in the form on the right to download these two white papers!