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.