April 1st, 2019 — Wave Computing, the Silicon Valley company that is accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) from the datacenter to the edge, announced the first release of its MIPS Open? program components based on Wave?s renowned MIPS instruction set architecture (ISA) and recent architectural extensions. The intent of the MIPS Open initiative is to accelerate adoption of the MIPS architecture by chip developers, ecosystem partners and academic communities. Under the MIPS Open program, participants have full access to the most recent version, R6, of the 32-and-64-bit MIPS architecture free of charge ? with no licensing or royalty fees. Additionally, registered MIPS Open program participants are licensed under Wave?s hundreds of existing global patents. The new MIPS Open online environment is live and immediately accessible at www.mipsopen.com.
?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. ?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. Additional releases are planned, and we fully expect MIPS Open to become the new standard for open use instruction set architectures. Wave is deeply committed to open and shared development initiatives, like MIPS Open and the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) project, which we believe accelerate innovation and propel the entire industry into new frontiers.?
?Offering a broad set of silicon-proven features such as DSP and virtualization extensions, the MIPS Open ISA is more complete than other open hardware initiatives,? said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst at The Linley Group. ?The MIPS Open program also provides a greater degree of patent protection and a certification process that helps prevent ISA fragmentation, which is important for the sustainability of the architecture. These factors give MIPS Open an advantage for commercial implementations, particularly for customer-programmable cores.?
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 for embedded real-time operating systems and Linux-based systems for embedded products that enable developers to build, debug and deploy applications on MIPS-based hardware and software platforms;
MIPS Open Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs)? A complete training program for community members that includes:
Getting Started Package ? Provides the MIPS FPGA system as a set of Verilog files, plus an overview and instructions on how to use the MIPS FPGA system;
Labs ? Includes 25 hands-on labs that help developers explore the MIPS architecture and system-level designs;
SoC Tutorials ? Step-by-step direction on how to build a system-on-chip design based on the MIPS Open FPGA using an open source Linux operating system;
RTL Code for the MIPS microAptiv core ? Sample (non-commercial) code enables developers to explore microarchitecture features.
Additional enhancements and capabilities for the MIPS Open components are planned, including the release of the commercial RTL code for the MIPS microAptiv cores and new features for the development environment. Wave also plans 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.
For more information on the MIPS Open components and planned regional developer days, or to register as a new member, visit www.mipsopen.com.
Tags: AI, MIPS, MIPS Open, MIPS Open Developer Days, MIPSfpga, Wave Computing