Battling to ramp up volume production and increase market share in the face of the runaway success of Sun Microsystems’ SPARC microprocessor, MIPS Computer Systems of Sunnyvale, California, as reported (CI No 822) has licensed LSI Logic, Performance Semiconductor and Integrated Device Technology to manufacture and market its 32-bit RISC processor and associated parts. LSI Logic, which will initially make the processor in 2 micron CMOS, is promising a 20 MIPS version in 1.5 micron technology, likely by mid-1988. It will also use the designs as standard cells for incorporation into ASICs, Application Specific Integrated Circuits. Performance Semiconductor is also working on higher performance versions using the Pace I Performance Advance CMOS Technology, which features 0.8 micron gate length and two-level metalisation. MIPS will also continue to work with its existing semiconductor partners, Sierra Semiconductor and Toshiba of Japan, on the design and manufacture of new parts. Each licensee can market MIPS’ UMIPS Unix implementation and compilers, and MIPS says that unlike some other RISC designers it is ensuring layout and pin compatibility between versions of its processors and is providing licencees with mask-level co-operation.
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