The reference design supports both the MIPS Orion(tm) R4600(tm) microprocessor and the Pentium microprocessor with translation logic to enable the MIPS processor to run on a standard Pentium bus without modification to the motherboard or add-in peripheral cards. The design also supports MIPS R4400 microprocessors. Preliminary benchmarking with the Application Benchmark Suite indicate that UltraP systems, with a MIPS R4600 processor at 150 MHz deliver up to 3.5 times the performance of Pentium 66 MHz systems and 2.5 times P54C 100 MHz systems.
"The power of MIPS microprocessors is undeniable," said Tom Whiteside, president of MIPS Technologies. "MIPS-based systems deliver a huge leap in real application performance on native 32-bit Windows NT applications. Given the existing installed base of older x86 applications and the investment PC manufacturers have made in their non-RISC systems designs, MIPS is working to ease the transition to much more powerful RISC systems."The UltraP module is intended to enable PC manufacturers to conserve their current PC designs and system software and still offer the power of MIPS RISC microprocessors. A manufacturer's investment in a PC design is often substantial. These investments include the cost of developing custom diagnostics and self-check routines, a system BIOS, hardware set-ups and other hardware and software components necessary to make a complete system. With UltraP, PC manufacturers can retain all existing system components and sub-systems.
In an UltraP system, both the Pentium and the R4600 are reset simultaneously upon start-up. The Pentium completes all system start-up and initialization tasks and boots DOS. Then, a user can select Windows NT on MIPS, Windows NT on Pentium or Microsoft Windows on Pentium. If the user selects Windows NT on MIPS, system control is passed over to the MIPS R4600 processor. The initial version of UltraP requires rebooting to return to a DOS/Windows environment on the Pentium. The subsequent version will feature a Switcher(tm) software utility to enable users to toggle between processors and operating systems.
MIPS Technologies is offering the UltraP reference design free of charge to qualified manufacturers of PC systems. PC vendors may offer an UltraP card as a factory option for a high-performance Windows NT system or provide the module as a field upgrade. MIPS R4600 processors are available from Integrated Device Technology, NKK Corporation and Toshiba Corporation.
Contact:
Steve Schick, MIPS Technologies, Inc. 415/390-2573
Marilyn Lattin, Silicon Graphics, Inc. 415/390-5070
MIPS Technologies, Inc. designs and supplies the world's most advanced RISC microprocessor technology. The company tests, certifies and licenses its processor technology to its semiconductor partners which provide processors for the computer system and embedded control markets. MIPS microprocessors power systems from a number of computer industry leaders, including Acer Technologies, Deskstation Technology, Pyramid Technology, Siemens Nixdorf AG, Silicon Graphics, Inc., Sony Corporation, Tandem Computers Incorporated, NEC Technologies, Inc., NeTpower Inc. and Tektronix, Inc.
MIPS RISC architecture components are available from Integrated Device Technology, Inc., LSI Logic Corporation, NEC Corporation, NKK Corporation, Siemens AG and Toshiba Corporation. MIPS Technologies, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Graphics, Inc. and is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif.
