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Saturday 22 November 2008
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|NewsletterMicroprocessors and DSPs
MIPS enters microcontroller market
by Steve Bush
Wednesday 5 September 2007
MIPS processors will be used in microcontrollers for the first time following processor intellectual property firm MIPS’ purchase of analogue and interface design house Chipidea.
Part of the MIPS-Chipidea deal is to encourage fabless chip companies to produce stand-alone MIPS microcontrollers.
“We do think that partnering with Chipidea will ultimately help us drive to a stronger microcontroller strategy longer term,” MIPS’ marketing director Jodi Guilbault told EW. “We will have new options for them relative to MCUs.”
MIPS, like main rival ARM, aims its processor IP mainly at system chips. However ARM licensees, including Luminary Micro, NXP and STMicroelectronics, have created a small but growing market in high performance microcontrollers.
MIPS is also now entering the microcontroller IP market. “We can now offer analogue peripherals along with our controller for this segment of the market to the customers we have already targeted,” replied Guilbault. “Ultimately, we will move to a higher subsystem offering. We will have some upcoming announcements to this element of our story over the next few months.”
MIPS is paying $147m for Portugal-based Chipidea. According to MIPS: “The combined entity becomes the second largest semiconductor design IP company and the number one analogue IP company worldwide, based on Gartner’s 2006 rankings.”
Chipidea IP will continue to be available to its existing market. “Customers can use the analogue IP with any processor and Chipidea supports the different bus structures that are common in the industry,” said marketing Guilbault.
The deal strengthens MIPS’ traditional system-on-chip business. “We can offer a more comprehensive, integrated design solution, better serve existing markets, and strategically enter high-growth segments where analogue is essential,” said MIPS CEO John Bourgoin.
Part of the MIPS-Chipidea deal is to encourage fabless chip companies to produce stand-alone MIPS microcontrollers.
“We do think that partnering with Chipidea will ultimately help us drive to a stronger microcontroller strategy longer term,” MIPS’ marketing director Jodi Guilbault told EW. “We will have new options for them relative to MCUs.”
MIPS, like main rival ARM, aims its processor IP mainly at system chips. However ARM licensees, including Luminary Micro, NXP and STMicroelectronics, have created a small but growing market in high performance microcontrollers.
MIPS is also now entering the microcontroller IP market. “We can now offer analogue peripherals along with our controller for this segment of the market to the customers we have already targeted,” replied Guilbault. “Ultimately, we will move to a higher subsystem offering. We will have some upcoming announcements to this element of our story over the next few months.”
MIPS is paying $147m for Portugal-based Chipidea. According to MIPS: “The combined entity becomes the second largest semiconductor design IP company and the number one analogue IP company worldwide, based on Gartner’s 2006 rankings.”
Chipidea IP will continue to be available to its existing market. “Customers can use the analogue IP with any processor and Chipidea supports the different bus structures that are common in the industry,” said marketing Guilbault.
The deal strengthens MIPS’ traditional system-on-chip business. “We can offer a more comprehensive, integrated design solution, better serve existing markets, and strategically enter high-growth segments where analogue is essential,” said MIPS CEO John Bourgoin.
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