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Table 3-3 summarizes a small sampling of the PQ I product line.

Table 3-3. Freescale Select PowerQUICC I Highlights

The next step up in the Freescale PowerPC product line is PowerQUICC II. PQ II incorporates the company's G2 PowerPC core derived from the 603e embedded PowerPC core. These integrated communications processors operate at 133-450MHz and feature multiple 10/100Mbps Ethernet interfaces, security engines, and ATM and PCI support, among many others. The PQ II encompasses the MPC82xx products.

PQ II adds two new types of controllers to the QUICC engine. The FCC is a full-duplex fast serial communications controller. The FCC supports high-speed communications such as 100Mbps Ethernet and T3/E3 up to 45Mbps. The MCC is a multichannel controller capable of 128KB x 64KB channelized data.

Table 3-4 summarizes the highlights of selected PowerQUICC II processors.

Table 3-4. Freescale Select PowerQUICC II Highlights

Based on the Freescale PowerPC e300 core (evolved from the G2/603e), the PowerQUICC II Pro family operates at 266-667MHz and features support for Gigabit Ethernet, dual data rate (DDR) SDRAM controllers, PCI, high-speed USB, security acceleration, and more. These are the MPC83xx family of processors. The PQ II and PQ II Pro families of processors have been designed into a wide variety of equipment, such as LAN and WAN switches, hubs and gateways, PBX systems, and many other systems with similar complexity and performance requirements.

The PowerQUICC II Pro contains three family members without the QUICC engine, and two that are based on an updated version of the QUICC engine. The MPC8358E and MPC8360E both add a new Universal Communications Controller, which supports a variety of protocols.

Table 3-5 summarizes the highlights of select members of the PQ II Pro family.

At the top of the PowerQUICC family are the PQ III processors. These operate between 600MHz and 1.5GHz. They are based on the e500 core and support Gigabit Ethernet, DDR SDRAM, RapidIO, PCI and PCI/X, ATM, HDLC, and more. This family incorporates the MPC85xx product line. These processors have found their way into high-end products such as wireless base station controllers, optical edge switches, central office switches, and similar equipment.

Table 3-6 highlights some of the PQ III family members.

You might be surprised to learn that 32-bit processors based on the MIPS architecture have been shipping for more than 20 years. The MIPS architecture was designed in 1981 by a Stanford University engineering team led by Dr. John Hennessey, who later went on to form MIPS Computer Systems, Inc. That company has morphed into the present-day MIPS Technologies, whose primary role is the design and subsequent licensing of MIPS architecture and cores.

The MIPS core has been licensed by many companies, several of which have become powerhouses in the embedded processor market. MIPS is a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) architecture with both 32-bit and 64-bit implementations shipping in many popular products. MIPS processors are found in a large variety of products, from high-end to consumer devices. It is public knowledge that MIPS processors power many popular well-known consumer products, such as Sony high definition television sets, Linksys wireless access points, and the popular Sony PlayStation 2 game console. [21] Source: www.mips.com/content/PressRoom/PressReleases/2003-12-22