| Toshiba Licenses MIPS Technology's Latest RISC Microprocessor 25 January, 1999 Tokyo--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has licensed Ruby, the 64-bit RISC microprocessor based on the architecture developed by US-based MIPS Technologies, Inc. Toshiba is a long time licensee of RISC microprocessors based on the MIPS architecture, and has incorporated MIPS cores in diverse solutions since 1989. The new license adds Ruby, the latest MIPS's design, to Toshiba's current product lineup, the TX19, 39 and 49. Ruby is a high performance 64-bit microprocessor targeted at set-top boxes for digital television. It operates at the 500-666 megahertz clock speeds required for this highly demanding market and can execute up to 1,000 million instructions per second. The advanced design of the microprocessor allows its clock speed to be pushed beyond 500-666 megahertz clock speeds, and Toshiba's road map for the chip includes development of a one gigahertz version. The move to digital broadcasting is gaining pace. Terrestrial digital broadcasts began in the U.K. and U.S. last year and will start service in Japan in 2003, following on from satellite-based broadcasting that started in late 1997. The range of services and huge volumes of information offered by digital broadcasts demand a high-performance microprocessor. Toshiba will support design of powerful set-top boxes incorporating a Ruby-based processor that it expects to commercialize in 2001. Toshiba will also develop derivatives of Ruby for application in information and communications equipment and entertainment products, with the intention of enlarging its microprocessor business.
Ruby Performance Specifications
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