R3000

The R3000 is a 32-bit <a href="/facts/RISC/aQbGM62p">RISC</a> <a href="/facts/Microprocessor/Fx9CaQht">microprocessor</a> <a href="/facts/Chipset/0xU3kbVI">chipset</a> developed by <a href="/facts/MIPS_Computer_Systems/eI0XPIYW">MIPS Computer Systems</a> that implemented the <a href="/facts/MIPS_I/efV4KgK4">MIPS I</a> <a href="/facts/Instruction_set_architecture/8p8vwUeE">instruction set architecture</a> (ISA). Introduced in June 1988, it was the second MIPS implementation, succeeding the <a href="/facts/R2000_microprocessor/wGtpAxzS">R2000</a> as the flagship MIPS microprocessor. It operated at 20, 25 and 33.33 MHz.
The MIPS 1 instruction set is small compared to those of the contemporary <a href="/facts/80x86/Kypq5fgu">80x86</a> and <a href="/facts/680x0/jxd7VPlW">680x0</a> architectures, encoding only more commonly used operations and supporting few <a href="/facts/Addressing_mode/g78wINgK">addressing modes</a>. Combined with its fixed instruction length and only three different types of instruction formats, this simplified instruction decoding and processing. It employed a 5-stage <a href="/facts/Instruction_pipeline/3zy6CcX1">instruction pipeline</a>, enabling execution at a rate approaching one instruction per cycle, unusual for its time.
This MIPS generation supports up to four co-processors. In addition to the CPU core, the R3000 microprocessor includes a Control Processor (CP), which contains a <a href="/facts/Translation_Lookaside_Buffer/vvwGkfvD">Translation Lookaside Buffer</a> and a <a href="/facts/Memory_Management_Unit/tJQtAQzI">Memory Management Unit</a>. The CP works as a <a href="/facts/Coprocessor/WsVXzAGo">coprocessor</a>. Besides the CP, the R3000 can also support an external R3010 numeric coprocessor, along with two other external coprocessors.
The R3000 CPU does not include level 1 <a href="/facts/CPU_cache/x8BYFcdv">cache</a>. Instead, its on-chip cache controller operates external data and instruction caches of up to 256 KB each. It can access both caches during the same clock cycle.
The R3000 found much success and was used by many companies in their <a href="/facts/Workstation/h5tK4hTt">workstations</a> and servers. Users included:

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Ardent_Computer/Rhd2MEo2">Ardent Computer</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Atari_COJAG/naKMUjol">Atari COJAG</a> (A modified <a href="/facts/Atari_Jaguar/DCTUzXMu">Atari Jaguar</a> for arcade systems).</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Digital_Equipment_Corporation/ztxs6keA">Digital Equipment Corporation</a> (DEC) for their <a href="/facts/DECstation/tBSAsdSd">DECstation</a> workstations and <a href="/facts/Multiprocessor/aDCfehDQ">multiprocessor</a> <a href="/facts/DECsystem/N9rnMCs9">DECsystem</a> servers.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Evans_%2526_Sutherland/NpWsJWGJ">Evans & Sutherland</a> for their Vision (ESV) series workstations.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/LSI_Logic/6efkIzMM">LSI Logic</a> for their CW4003 RISC processor core and DCAM-101 system-on-a-chip.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/MIPS_Computer_Systems/eI0XPIYW">MIPS Computer Systems</a> for their <a href="/facts/MIPS_RISC%2fos/knhM1U3q">MIPS RISC/os</a> Unix workstations and servers.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/NEC/YnlUsMBA">NEC</a> for their RISC EWS4800 workstations and UP4800 servers.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Prime_Computer/BnmgcHA8">Prime Computer</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Pyramid_Technology/9MakM7RT">Pyramid Technology</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Seiko_Epson/VUmPD9UW">Seiko Epson</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Silicon_Graphics/DKvkrfLX">Silicon Graphics</a> for their Professional IRIS, Personal IRIS and <a href="/facts/SGI_Indigo/1DKxhVa8">Indigo</a> workstations, and the multiprocessor Power Series visualization systems.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Sony/7x4tCtBd">Sony</a> for their <a href="/facts/PlayStation_(console)/z1vlbrvo">PlayStation</a> and <a href="/facts/PlayStation_2/gbFBT7AX">PlayStation 2</a> (SCPH-10000 to SCPH-700XX - clocked at 36.864 MHz for use as an I/O CPU and at 33.8688 MHz for compatibility with PlayStation games) video game consoles, and <a href="/facts/Sony_NEWS/XKfjII46">NEWS</a> workstations, as well as the <a href="/facts/Bemani_System_573_Analog/I3dkKD6l">Bemani System 573 Analog</a> arcade unit, which runs on the R3000A.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Tandem_Computers/m8syzN1q">Tandem Computers</a> for their NonStop Cyclone/R and CLX/R fault-tolerant servers.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Whitechapel_Workstations/zlTUR8xh">Whitechapel Workstations</a> for their Hitech-20 workstation.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/New_Horizons/G5XTU5DK">New Horizons</a> Probe </li></ul>
The R3000 was a further development of the <a href="/facts/R2000_microprocessor/wGtpAxzS">R2000</a> with minor improvements including larger <a href="/facts/Translation_lookaside_buffer/vvwGkfvD">TLB</a> and a faster bus to the external caches. The R3000 die contained 115,000 transistors and measured about 75,000 square <a href="/facts/Thousandth_of_an_inch/6jJ6uVUn">mils</a> (48 mm2). MIPS was a <a href="/facts/Fabless/M7wqlG85">fabless</a> semiconductor company, so the R3000 was fabricated by MIPS partners including <a href="/facts/Integrated_Device_Technology/vuXjhG5H">Integrated Device Technology</a> (IDT), <a href="/facts/LSI_Logic/6efkIzMM">LSI Logic</a>, <a href="/facts/NEC_Corporation/YnlUsMBA">NEC Corporation</a>, Performance Semiconductor, and others. It was fabricated in a 1.2 μm <a href="/facts/Complementary_metal%25E2%2580%2593oxide%25E2%2580%2593semiconductor/NJIWYgBl">complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor</a> (CMOS) process with two levels of <a href="/facts/Aluminium_interconnect/qfmGvook">aluminium interconnect</a>.
The R3000 was also used as an embedded microprocessor. When advances in technology rendered it obsolete for high-performance systems, it found continued use in lower-cost designs. Companies such as <a href="/facts/LSI_Logic/6efkIzMM">LSI Logic</a> and <a href="/facts/Integrated_Device_Technology/vuXjhG5H">Integrated Device Technology</a> developed derivatives of the R3000 specifically for <a href="/facts/Embedded_system/a4muX1wU">embedded systems</a>.

Derivatives of the R3000 for non-embedded applications include:

<ul><li>R3000A - A further development by MIPS introduced in 1989. It operated at clock frequencies up to 40 MHz.</li>
<li>PR3400 - Developed by Performance Semiconductor, introduced in May 1991, also at up to 40 MHz. It integrated the Performance Semiconductor PR3000A and PR3010A onto a single die.</li></ul>
Derivatives of the R3000 for embedded applications include:

<ul><li>CW4003, DCAM-101 - Aimed at digital camera applications, the CW4003 core featured a "multiplier-addition bolt-on" (MABO) unit for accelerated integer arithmetic and a pixel-processing accelerator (PPA) unit accessible via the coprocessor 2 interface. The DCAM-101 combined the CW4003 core with modules interfacing to a camera sensor, display, storage and other peripherals, also incorporating a JPEG compression/decompression unit.</li>
<li>PR31500, PR31700 - Microprocessors from <a href="/facts/Philips_Semiconductors/naAqdtWq">Philips Semiconductors</a> used in the <a href="/facts/Philips_Velo/mVcFEEP2">Philips Velo</a> handheld PC range. The 75 MHz PR31700 was fabricated in a 350 nm process, delivered in a 208-pin LQFP, it operated at 3.3 V and dissipated only 350 mW.</li>
<li>RISController - A family of embedded microprocessors from IDT. Models included the R3041, R3051, R3052, R3071 and R3081. All models included integrated L1 caches. Higher-end models included larger caches and optional MMUs and FPUs. They competed with the <a href="/facts/Intel_i960/xnFNnjsX">intel i960</a> and <a href="/facts/AMD_29000/ssWQ4bUL">AMD 29000</a>.</li>
<li>TX3900 - A microcontroller from Toshiba.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Mongoose-V/uGeFF0Wp">Mongoose-V</a> - A radiation-hardened and expanded 10–15 MHz CPU for use on spacecraft, it is still in use today in applications such as <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a>'s <a href="/facts/New_Horizons/G5XTU5DK">New Horizons</a> space probe.</li></ul>

<ul><li><a href="http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/R3000/">"MIPS Technologies R3000"</a></li></ul>

R3000 open-in-new

R3000