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It got there via a tortured series of deals starting with Imagination buying MIPS in 2013 followed by China-backed Canyon Bridge buying Imagination in 2017.
The US government insisted that MIPS must not go with Imagination to Canyon Bridge so MIPS was sold to Diosdado Banatao who made his first fortunes at Chips and Technologies and S3.
Banatao, by then a VC, switched the ownership of MIPS between various of his family-owned companies before transferring MIPS licensing rights, in 2018, to a Samoan-registered company whose chairman and founder was also chairman and founder of a Chinese-registered company.
The same year the Samoan company transferred ownership of the licensing rights to the Chinese company called CIP United.
CIP is reported to control MIPS licensing rights and the right to develop derivative products for customers in China.
One of those customers is Huawei.
This is not stealing, this is Capitalism or at least mercantilism at its finest, all the IP rights went from one hand to other thru admittedly convoluted route by exchanging money, at best this could be IP smuggling, but remember the British smuggled Tea and Porcelain know how from China, USA engages in similar practices with the CIA / NSA peering into the secrets of Industrial Adversaries and foreign firms even in allied countries, they even spy on allied leaders, so welcome to the real world.
MIPS by the way is not leading edge, but is used inside DVR, IP Cameras and is a good ISA although will be eclipsed by RISC V. But of course it will be useful for some equipments in the edge.
Well fair’s fair & all, we sold the Chinese shedloads of opium & even went to war over it.
Twice.
Here Here, zeitghost, if the Chinese think they can make a big deal out of MIPS then good luck to them – no one else has.
This is another devious and crooked way for the Chinese government to steal American Technology. I have witnessed this over the past 30+ years going back to the 90’s when they were stealing Cisco, Nortel, Motorola and other companies telecom technology. I worked in the semiconductor industry and before that at Bell Labs for 50+ years before finally retiring earlier this year. Our government must find stricter ways to prevent the Chinese governerment from stealing our technology. I could go on and on. This must stop.
https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/mips-lands-china-2020-08/
This is not stealing, this is Capitalism or at least mercantilism at its finest, all the IP rights went from one hand to other thru admittedly convoluted route by exchanging money, at best this could be IP smuggling, but remember the British smuggled Tea and Porcelain know how from China, USA engages in similar practices with the CIA / NSA peering into the secrets of Industrial Adversaries and foreign firms even in allied countries, they even spy on allied leaders, so welcome to the real world.
MIPS by the way is not leading edge, but is used inside DVR, IP Cameras and is a good ISA although will be eclipsed by RISC V. But of course it will be useful for some equipments in the edge.
How does this affect Microchip, don’t they use MIPS?
In January a MIPS exec said thst the architecture was “on pace” to ship inside a billion chips a year, Pepe
Who is using MIPS in 2020? Like two companies?
I thought Atheros chipsets still used MIPS.