Wait, What? MIPS Becomes RISC-V

Find the Latest SoC Solutions
for... Automotive... IoT... Security... Audio... Video

Classic CPU Company Exits Bankruptcy, Throws in the Towel

www.eejournal.com, Mar. 08, 2021 – 

What a long, strange trip it's been. MIPS Technologies no longer designs MIPS processors. Instead, it's joined the RISC-V camp, abandoning its eponymous architecture for one that has strong historical and technical ties. The move apparently heralds the end of the road for MIPS as a CPU family, and a further (slight) diminution in the variety of processors available. It's the final arc of an architecture.

MIPS as a company has passed through a lot of hands, most recently as part of Wave Computing, the ill-fated AI startup. Wave was developing its unique AI acceleration hardware on top of a general-purpose MIPS CPU, and then it bought the entire MIPS organization. The move seemed both unusual and unnecessary, and something of a distraction, given that they'd already licensed the necessary IP. Over time, it started to look like the MIPS side of the business was the most stable part of the company. Wave finally collapsed into bankruptcy last year, emerging just last week under a new name: that of its acquired technology, MIPS. Say hello to the new MIPS.

Development of the MIPS processor architecture has now stopped, and MIPS (the company) will start making chips based on RISC-V. This is a complete change of business model, not just CPU. The old MIPS was in the business of licensing IP, just like ARM or Ceva or Rambus. It didn't make anything tangible. Companies like the old Wave Computing were its customers, and processors like ARM and RISC-V were its competitors. Now that equation is inverted.

click here to read more...

 Back