Editing MIPS architecture (section)

== Uses ==
{{expand section|date=February 2020}}
{{Update|section|part=2010s|date=August 2020}}

MIPS processors are used in [[embedded system]]s such as [[residential gateway]]s and [[Router (computing)|router]]s. Originally, MIPS was designed for general-purpose computing. During the 1980s and 1990s, MIPS processors for [[Personal computer|personal]], [[workstation]], and [[Server (computing)|server]] computers were used by many companies such as [[Digital Equipment Corporation]], [[MIPS Computer Systems]], [[NEC]], [[Pyramid Technology]], [[SiCortex]], [[Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme|Siemens Nixdorf]], [[Silicon Graphics]], and [[Tandem Computers]].

Historically, [[video game console]]s such as the [[Nintendo 64]], [[Sony]] [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]], [[PlayStation 2]], and [[PlayStation Portable]] used MIPS processors. MIPS processors also used to be popular in [[supercomputer]]s during the 1990s, but all such systems have dropped off the [[TOP500]] list. These uses were complemented by embedded applications at first, but during the 1990s, MIPS became a major presence in the embedded processor market, and by the 2000s, most MIPS processors were for these applications.

In the mid- to late-1990s, it was estimated that one in three RISC microprocessors produced was a MIPS processor.<ref name="Victor P. Rubio, 2004">{{cite web|last=Rubio|first=Victor P|title=A FPGA Implementation of a MIPS RISC Processor for Computer Architecture Education|url=http://www.ece.nmsu.edu/~jecook/thesis/Victor_thesis.pdf|publisher=[[New Mexico State University]]|access-date=December 22, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415011539/http://www.ece.nmsu.edu/~jecook/thesis/Victor_thesis.pdf|archive-date=April 15, 2012}}</ref>

By the late 2010s, MIPS machines were still commonly used in embedded markets, including automotive, wireless router, LTE modems (mainly via [[MediaTek]]), and microcontrollers (for example the [[Microchip Technology]] [[PIC microcontrollers#PIC32M MIPS-based line|PIC32M]]). They have mostly faded out of the personal, server, and application space.