The MIPS R4300i

First, A Bit About Microprocessors

I want to digress a little to talk about microprocessors in general. Most people understand that microprocessors are the brain of the computer. The microprocessor performs all of the arithmetic and logic functions of the computer. Most people also have a vague notion of the complexity of a microprocessor. For example, most people would probably know the Intel Pentium chip has more that 1 billion transistors. However, there is a lot more to a processor that most people realize. To develop a better understanding of the microprocessor with an emphasis on the MIPS architecture, the following links are included.

MIPS is subsidiary of Silicon Graphics. Silicon Graphics, long known for its expertise in computer graphics, acquired MIPS so it could improve its product development. All MIPS microprocessors are RISC processors. RISC stands for reduced instruction set chip. The idea behind the RISC chip is to eliminate the need for a microprogram to execute hardware instructions. Instead, a small set of instructions are hard coded into the silicon and those instruction are executed. This enables RISC microprocessors to run extremely fast. Be cautioned that what I have said about RISC chips is not everything about the RISC design. Currently, the fastest microprocessor is the Digital Alpha chip, which has been clocked at 600mhz (see Brandon Young's Digital Alpha project). That is at least 2 times faster that the Pentium II.

An Introduction

Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible, 1997 Electronic Edition, Chapter3-The Hardware Bible is an excellent general, not-too-technical introduction to computers. Chapter 3 specifically deals with the microprocessor, its components, functions, and physical properties.

The RISC Concept-A Survey of Implementations-The authors of this paper argue that RISC in not just a microprocessor design. It is a design philosophy.

The MIPS family

MIPS Instruction Set-A series of overheads used by Ron Ciminero, a professor at the University of Cincinnati for his computer architecture course. Although it is just a summary, it provides a good overview of the MIPS architecture in general.

CmpSci 535 Notes from Lecture 7 Although MIPS is only discussed in passing, this webpage focuses on one aspect of microprocessor design which is important in evaluating the performance of a microprocessor.

spim ftp site This is the ftp site of the University of Wisconsin Computer Science Department. If you are interested, you can download spim, a program that simulates the MIPS R2000/R3000 microprocessors. Read the .message file for more information.