World Leader in 8- and 16-bit MCUs Bases New High-Performance PIC32 Family on MIPS32® M4K® Core
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – November 5, 2007 – MIPS Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIPS), a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer, networking, personal entertainment, communications and business applications, today announced that Microchip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, is powering its new PIC32 family of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) with the MIPS32® industry-standard embedded architecture. Microchip has integrated the low-power MIPS32 M4K® processor core into its new family of high-performance MCUs, introduced in a separate announcement by Microchip earlier today.
“We based the PIC32 family on the industry-standard MIPS32 architecture because it offers the high performance, low power, and extensive tool support that we needed,” said Patrick Johnson, director of Microchip’s High Performance Microcontroller Division. “As many segments of the industry begin to utilize our 32-bit PIC32 MCUs, they can benefit from the same seamless migration path that we provide for customers using our 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers. Because of its efficient and highly configurable instruction-set architecture, the MIPS32 M4K core provides a scalable solution to help enable Microchip’s seamless migration.”
“The M4K core has long been used in applications that demand low power and high performance,” said Pat Hays, vice president of engineering, MIPS Technologies. “Particularly for microcontrollers, the M4K core has MIPS16e™ code compression to reduce code size up to forty percent, and shadow register sets to help facilitate fast interrupt or context switch response. We also worked closely with Microchip to further extend software debugging capabilities with the addition of complex hardware breakpoints and the new lightweight iFlowtrace™ technology. These new capabilities make the M4K core a terrific choice for microcontroller applications.”
The M4K core cost-effectively delivers the features and functionality critical for emerging MCU applications in industrial, automotive and consumer markets, helping to enable seamless migration among 8-, 16- and 32-bit MCUs. It features a wide range of configurable features that allow designers to optimize the core’s performance while reducing die size, power consumption and total system cost. The design of an M4K core-based system is supported by MIPS’ software development tools, which provide a sophisticated platform to mitigate the development task and reduce time-to-market. MIPS’ debug probes and Eclipse-based IDE, with advanced breakpoint, complex triggers and iFlowtrace debug capabilities, further enhance system verification.
Through its recent acquisition of worldwide analog IP leader Chipidea, MIPS Technologies’ broad array of cores includes more than 400 analog IP blocks. The combination of leading processor and analog/mixed-signal IP will enable MIPS Technologies to be the first semiconductor design IP company to offer a combination of processor and peripheral IP in a single solution for the microcontroller market.
About Microchip Technology
Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) is a leading provider of microcontroller and analog semiconductors, providing low-risk product development, lower total system cost and faster time to market for thousands of diverse customer applications worldwide. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the Microchip website at www.microchip.com.
About MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIPS) is a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer, networking, personal entertainment, communications and business applications. The company drives the broadest architectural alliance that delivers 32- and 64-bit embedded RISC solutions to the embedded market, and in combination with its licensees, offers the widest range of robust, scalable processors in standard, custom, semi-custom and application-specific products worldwide. MIPS Technologies currently owns more than 400 patent properties (patents and applications) worldwide and licenses its intellectual property to today’s leading semiconductor companies, ASIC developers and system OEMs.
Today, MIPS-Based™ designs are integrated in millions of products around the world, including broadband devices from Linksys, digital cameras from Canon, DTVs and entertainment systems from Sony, DVD Recordable devices from Pioneer, digital set-top boxes from Motorola, network routers from Cisco and laser printers from Hewlett-Packard. Founded in 1998, MIPS Technologies is based in Mountain View, California, with offices worldwide. For more information, please contact (650) 567-5000 or visit http://www.mips.com.
