Imagination Technologies is continuing its MIPS push with the introduction of MIPSfpga, an educational program that gives universities and colleges free open-access to a fully validated MIPS CPU for use with a suitable field-programmable gate array. While the CPU on offer is relatively new—it's based on the company’s MIPS32 microAptiv range—it sadly doesn’t feature the much-hyped Warrior architecture. Still, it is free, and it comes with compatibility across a range of FPGA platforms (Imagination has guides available for the Digilent Nexys4 and the Terasic DE2), a live debugging interface, and the ability to boot Linux. MIPSfpga is potentially a great learning tool for those on a processor design and programming path.

MIPSfpga may also be more compelling than ARM-based education kits thanks to its open architecture, which Imagination says will give students far more insight into the inner workings of a processor. It is not, however, fully open source. Students will be able to use the MIPS CPU as they wish, but they cannot put any changes into silicon. If students wish to modify it and patent any changes, they must talk to Imagination first. The company is promising that MIPS’ single-operation instructions and "faster, more compact code size" make for a far better learning environment. Eager participants can download materials and sign up via an online application process now, while those that aren’t a fan of paperwork can hold off until June, when Imagination promises that sign-up will only require a simple click-through agreement.

While Imagination Technologies is best known for providing the PowerVR GPUs that power most of Apple's mobile devices, the company has been extolling the virtues of its MIPS processor range since it acquired the IP in early 2013. When it announced the Warrior architecture later that year, the company hoped to expand MIPS' reach from embedded devices like routers and printers and make inroads into mobile platforms like smartphones and tablets. As of yet, though, no such device has materialized. There's only a reference tablet and the CI20 developer board currently outfitted with a MIPS CPU.

Handing out free CPUs to educational institutions might win Imagination some fans, but it’ll take more than that in order for the company to make a significant dent in ARM’s stranglehold over mobile. That said, according to Imagination CEO Hossein Yassaie, a big MIPS design win might not be that far away. "You'll hear about these things within 12 months," the CEO told Ars in an interview. "Our policy has been not to shout too much, because every time we do our big competitor tries to focus on it, and I believe in a little bit of stealth now. There are things going on, there are design wins being secured. You'll hear over the next 12 months... maybe in the next few months you'll begin to hear, but it's very real."

As for why device manufacturers and developers might want to choose MIPS over the likes of ARM or x86, particularly when the architecture had been left to languish in obscurity for so long since its use in things like SGI workstations and the Nintendo 64 in the '80s and '90s, Hossein had a more direct response.

"No industry likes a monopoly," he said. "Whoever tells you that it does is talking absolute nonsense. Whether we like it or not, ARM had no competition. That is not healthy. I think the change now is that MIPS is here, it's a real alternative, we're making investment, and the industry is believing it. I can't be specific, but we are absolutely engaging and doing deals with tier one guys… Google supports us very heavily. If you go and check out something like LLVM activities, you'll see MIPS, it's one of the leading contributors to that space. There is a lot going on among the influential people. You can get the latest Android, you can download it from Google and it runs on MIPS. "I am so confident that the future will be better for the industry, the future will be better for MIPS," Hossein continued. "MIPS is back, with a huge investment. Two years ago it was a hope and a dream, today I see it as a certainty."

Despite Hossein's bullish attitude toward MIPS adoption, Imagination has quite the battle ahead of it. Sure, Google does officially support 64-bit MIPS chips in Android L, with Imagination designing the 64-bit i6400 specifically for the OS. And yes, the RISC-based architecture of MIPS means that it shares some of the great power efficiency and ease of programming as ARM-based chips. But with ARM currently dominating the mobile SOC market, and chip-giant Intel beginning to see x86 designs like its Core M and Cherry Trail Atom adopted, what reason is there to develop for MIPS?

Still, Hossein is right when he says "no industry likes a monopoly." If Imagination can come close to matching the power and efficiency of ARM, and if it can come up with a compelling pricing strategy—don't forget, it can offer an excellent GPU with PowerVR too—then it'll see some OEMs pick up MIPS for a device, even if it'll only be used as leverage against ARM.