MIPS Technologies just announced that Beceem, a leading provider of 4G Mobile WiMax chips, licensed its MIPS32 4KEc synthesizable processor core for next-generation wireless networking products.
MIPS is a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for digital consumer, home networking, wireless, communications, and business applications. Beceem is the 4G market leader, reportedly accounting for roughly 64% of the total market and already leveraging MIPS cores in its industry-leading Mobile WiMax chips.
Based on market research firm In-Stat, it is expected that WiMax chipset revenue will grow from $127 million in 2009 to $532 million in 2013. The entire WiMax market is being spurred on by new applications including smart grids, mobile hotspots, and soon to be launched WiMax-enabled phones.
“We have led the 4G Mobile WiMax ship market since the first deployment in Korea in 2005 and continue to provide the highest performance products in the industry,” said Lars Johnsson, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Beceem. “Beceem’s chips are the benchmark for WiMax devices in terms of performance, funtionality and feature integration, and we are excited to continue to leverage MIPS Technologies’ low power, high-performance processor cores and ecosystem to further extend leadership in the mobile broadband semiconductor market.”
The 4KEc gives MIPS licensees the flexibility to optimize applications for performance, size or power consumption, important considerations in WiMax designs that need real-time performance with minimal battery usage. Licesnsees of the 4KEc core are broadly supported by a software ecosystem of operating systems, middleware, algorithms, and tools for embedded applications, including wireless networking, where the MIPS architecture has long been a leader.
