Bringing MIPS to the Masses!

Serving the Fast-Growing 32-bit Microcontroller Market

Microcontrollers (MCUs) cover a wide and very diverse set of markets and needs, from industrial and office automation applications to automotive and consumer electronics. The 32-bit segment of the MCU market is the fastest growing technology segment, forecast to grow at a 13% CAGR over the next 5 years (source: Semico).

Performance demands on microcontroller products are fueling migration from 8-and 16-bit architectures. These demands stem from a variety of new challenges, including the integration of higher speed communication interfaces, more intensive signal processing requirements, and the increasing sophistication of user interfaces being designed into "deeply embedded" products.

The 32-bit MCU supplier base is highly fragmented, and MIPS Technologies recognizes the migration to 32-bit solutions as an opportunity—and one that our processor technology is ideally positioned to solve.

Uncompromised Performance, Minimal System Cost

While performance is not always the #1 criteria for MCU selection, it is one of the key metrics encouraging the migration to 32-bits. Delivering performance efficiently is essential, and the MIPS32® 4K® family of processor cores provides a highly efficient 5-stage pipeline with 1.5 DMIPS/MHz of performance in a very low-power and economical silicon footprint.

This performance is maintained in the newest members of the 4K family—the MIPS32 M14K™ and M14Kc processor cores based on the revolutionary new microMIPS™ code compression Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). microMIPS maintain 98% of MIPS32 performance while reducing code size by 35%, translating to significant silicon cost savings. These new cores also include other key new features for MCU and low-footprint embedded applications that lower interrupt latencies, support additional debug and trace features, and minimize access times to designs with on-chip Flash memory.

Want to learn more? Please fill in the form on the right to download any of our three overview papers

• microMIPS Instruction Set Architecture
• An Introduction to the MIPS32® M14K™ Processor Core
• An Introduction to the MIPS32® M14Kc™ Processor Core
• IN-STAT Microprocessor Report

The Heritage of the MIPS® Architecture

The MIPS architecture is well known and widely adopted in a variety of market segments, with leading market share in many applications within the digital home. This equates to billions of units shipped by our licensees, and an extensive supporting ecosystem of base software and hardware tools, operating system, middleware, EDA, and IP partners. When coupled with our leading performance-efficient processor cores, these advantages translate to a differentiated microcontroller product that lowers customers' and users' costs, barriers and time in getting products to market.