Under the MIPS Open program, the latest R6 version of the 32-and-64-bit MIPS architecture would be available to participants without licensing or royalty fees.
Wave Computing, the Silicon Valley company that is accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) from the datacenter to the edge, has kept its promise of open sourcing its MIPS architecture.
The company has announced the first release of its MIPS Open program components based on its renowned MIPS instruction set architecture (ISA) and recent architectural extensions.
Wave Computing’s MIPS Open initiative, which was launched in December 2018, aims to accelerate innovation around system-on-chip designs and expand the adoption of the MIPS RISC architecture by developers, ecosystem partners and academic communities.
Its first MIPS Open release includes the latest R6 version of the MIPS 32-and-64-bit ISA, an IDE for embedded Linux and RTOS development and support for the free MIPSfpga core.
The MIPS code is available without licensing or royalty fees. In addition, registered MIPS Open program participants will be protected under MIPS’ existing worldwide patents that cover some 8.5 billion MIPS-based chips.
“The Wave Computing team is thrilled to complete the first MIPS Open release, as promised and on schedule, which we see as a key enabler for Wave’s ‘AI for All’ vision,” said Art Swift, president of Wave Computing’s MIPS IP Business, in a blog post.
“Leveraging decades of R&D and ecosystem investments, today’s launch now enables chip designers to begin development on the latest version of the silicon-proven MIPS architecture without license fees or royalties,” he added.
Specific components of the first MIPS Open program release include:
- MIPS ISA — A downloadable copy of the latest R6 version of the MIPS 32-and-64-bit architecture, including extensions such as virtualization, multi-threading, SIMD, DSP and microMIPS code compression.
- MIPS Open Tools — Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Linux-based and real-time operating systems (RTOSes) for embedded products, enabling developers to build, debug and deploy applications on MIPS-based hardware and software.
- MIPS Open Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) — A training programme for community members with a Getting Started package (Verilog files and instructions), 25 hands-on labs and step-by-step directions on how to build a system-on-chip based on the MIPS Open FPGA using an open source Linux OS. Participants will also get sample RTL Code for the MIPS microAptiv core.
Wave Computing is preparing for more open source releases. These include the release of the commercial RTL code for the MIPS microAptiv cores and new features for the development environment.
The company is also planning to host a series of MIPS Open Developer Days, wherein designers can meet face-to-face to exchange ideas, learn about new ISA features and receive guidance on their designs.
