These general improvements to the architecture are upwards compatible with all of the other MIPS ISAs and extend the architecture by incorporating basic features such as wider instruction word, 64-bit processing units, extended floating point processors, multiple processors, and faster memory accessing mechanisms. The second is by Application Specific Extensions or ASEs. These extensions are targeted to specific functions needed by some applications but not all. The MIPS RISC architecture is designed to grow in a compatible and flexible manner. Increasing ISA levels support general enhanced performance across the entire architecture.
ASEs add application specific functionality without affecting the rest of the architecture.
One key to successful market acceptance is the ability of an embedded system to meet the basic functional requirements of the system. A game must support games, a phone must provide basic telephony, a handheld PC must execute with an operating system and a basic set of applications. But a more important differentiator is the ability to pack more functionality into the system without adding hardware cost. The best way to do this is to have more processing performance in the basic processor. As shown in the following chart, the MIPS RISC architecture offers more performance than competing architectures.