MIPS 64-bit processor coming in 2016

Imagination Technologies hopes to catch up with ARM and Intel in the mobile space with its first MIPS 64-bit processor core design, which could be in tablets and smartphones by 2016.

Processors based on the MIPS Warrior i6400 design will be able to run Google’s 64-bit Android OSes starting with the upcoming L release, said Mark Throndson, director of processor marketing and business development at Imagination.

The new processor is smaller, faster and more power-efficient than a previous MIPS chip, the 32-bit InterAptiv, Throndson said. As a result, mobile devices will gain speed and efficiency, he said.

Some performance benefits come from the 64-bit design, which will allow devices to have more memory and run more applications in parallel. The multithreaded Warrior i6400 is close to 50 percent faster on some Android tasks than the InterAptiv, Throndson said. [via PCworld]