New DSP Extension Enables Signal and Media Processing On the Industry-Standard MIPS Architecture

Optimized DSP Algorithms and Libraries for MIPS32® and MIPS64® Architectures Improve Application Performance and Lower SOC Costs

SAN JOSE, Calif., Fall Processor Forum, October 4, 2004 - MIPS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: MIPS), today announced the MIPS® DSP ASE, a new digital signal processing extension to the industry-standard MIPS architecture. The DSP ASE (application-specific extension) improves signal processing performance up to 300 percent over a range of embedded applications. Supported by a complete suite of software development tools and the MIPS DSP Library, the DSP ASE enables SOC designers to simplify their design environment and lower system cost by eliminating hardwired logic and migrating DSP functionality onto a MIPS-Based™ host processor.
DVD recorders, digital cameras, residential gateways and VoIP phones are examples of the growing list of consumer products that require an increasing amount of signal and media processing horsepower. And, in the cost-sensitive, high-volume consumer electronics market, eliminating unnecessary hardware and tool chains and reducing royalty payments can result in savings of millions of dollars.
To address these trends, MIPS Technologies is enhancing its industry-standard architecture with DSP functionality to provide a single design environment that leverages a common tool set and knowledge base. The MIPS DSP ASE offers licensees a programmable solution for DSP applications, allowing adaptation to changing market needs and extending the life of an SOC design. The new DSP extension comprises a set of new instructions and state in the integer pipeline of MIPS Technologies cores and requires less than six percent additional silicon area to implement in a 24K-class core.

"From low-end printers and digital cameras to highly complex network switches, increasing signal processing requirements are putting pressure on the limited resource pool of DSP programmers," said Will Strauss, president and CEO of Forward Concepts, an Arizona-based market research firm. "With the MIPS DSP ASE and DSP Library, SOC designers can leverage many popular DSP algorithms and support tools needed to efficiently process media tasks."

"MIPS Technologies continues to add optimized software to its leading synthesizable and hardened core product lines to reduce the SOC design challenges in our target markets," said Russ Bell, vice president and marketing at MIPS Technologies. "The DSP architectural extension is the latest example of our strategy to expand the reach and capability of the MIPS ecosystem. The market response has been overwhelmingly positive and reinforces our position as the market and technology leader in embedded design."

Details of the MIPS DSP ASE
The MIPS DSP ASE is fully supported with GNU-based software development tools. Features of the MIPS DSP ASE include:

• 8-, 16- and 32-bit SIMD instructions
• Saturating and fractional math
• Popular DSP operations, such as MAC, dot-product, absolute and complex-multiply
• Key features such as variable bit insert/extract and virtual circular buffers

Tools, library and operating system support:

• MIPS Software Toolkit support: tuned compiler (C front-end), assembler, debugger, instruction-set simulator, and performance analysis tools
• The MIPS DSP Library: a set of key DSP functions, including DCT, FFT, filters and other popular functions
• Linux support

Availability
The DSP ASE is available for licensing by MIPS32 and MIPS64 ISA customers. Additionally, this technology will appear in future 32- and 64-bit cores developed by MIPS Technologies.

About MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer and business applications. The company drives the broadest architectural alliance that is delivering 32- and 64-bit embedded RISC solutions. The company licenses its intellectual property to semiconductor companies, ASIC developers and system OEMs. MIPS Technologies and its licensees offer the widest range of robust, scalable processors in standard, custom, semi-custom and application-specific products. The company is based in Mountain View, Calif., and can be reached at +1 (650) 567-5000 or www.mips.com.

###

MIPS, MIPS32, MIPS64 and MIPS-Based are trademarks or registered trademarks in the United States and other countries of MIPS Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks referred to herein are the property of their respective owners.