ARM、Imagination等聯(lián)合收購(gòu)MIPS資產(chǎn)和專利已經(jīng)得到了三方官方宣布，但今天看來，這一切還沒有結(jié)束。 CEVA公司（位于加州Mountain View），一個(gè)DSP IP提供商，拿出了7500萬美元的現(xiàn)金表示要從Imagination手里搶購(gòu)MIPS。Imagination當(dāng)時(shí)宣布用6000萬美元的現(xiàn)金收購(gòu)MIPS股份。 據(jù)報(bào)道，CEVA的競(jìng)標(biāo)目標(biāo)與Imagination相同，要的也只是MIPS的資產(chǎn)業(yè)務(wù)、核心專利，另外接近500項(xiàng)剝離專利仍將以3.5億美元的價(jià)格賣給ARM為首聯(lián)盟的Bridge Crossing。 CEVA是智能手機(jī)IC市場(chǎng)的受益者之一，今年早些時(shí)候，手握超過1.5億美元現(xiàn)金。該公司計(jì)劃通過擴(kuò)大其客戶基礎(chǔ)，讓收入來源多元化。 MIPS表示，其董事會(huì)正在評(píng)估CEVA的建議，后續(xù)才能做決定，現(xiàn)在正與CEVA討論中。 CEVA的DSP內(nèi)核作為輔助存在MIPS架構(gòu)的處理器中，與它不同的是，Imagination的圖形內(nèi)核，是與MIPS處理器分別獨(dú)立的存在。例如，家庭娛樂系統(tǒng)中，CEVA和MIPS內(nèi)核經(jīng)常一起使用。但在CEVA比較成功的移動(dòng)通信領(lǐng)域，MIPS卻很少出現(xiàn)。 雖然這次并購(gòu)的金額似乎并不大，但是，它帶來的影響卻可能遠(yuǎn)超過去幾年中的一些幾十億美元規(guī)模的并購(gòu)。它不僅將影響到未來處理器市場(chǎng)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)格局，更讓不同架構(gòu)處理器之間的關(guān)系更加復(fù)雜，也許還將影響到未來處理器的發(fā)展路徑。 編譯：Luffy Liu 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 參考英文原文：Ceva bids for MIPS, by Peter Clarke

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{pagination} Ceva bids for MIPS Peter Clarke LONDON – Ceva, a DSP IP licensor, has offered $75 million in cash for processor IP licensor MIPS Technologies in an attempt to outbid GPU licensing company Imagination Technologies. MIPS (Sunnyvale, Calif.) announced on Nov. 5 that Imagination would acquire outstanding MIPS shares for $60 million in cash following the completion of the proposed patent sale transaction with Bridge Crossing. The competing bid by Ceva (Mountain View, Calif.) is reportedly structured along the same lines as Imagination's (Kings Langley, England). That bid calls for a large proportion of the MIPS patent portfolio to be sold to Bridge Crossing for about $350 million. Ceva has valued the remainder of MIPS at a 25 percent higher value than Imagination did in its bid. The Ceva proposal is still subject to the approval of its board of directors and due diligence, MIPS said. Ceva has emerged as one of the beneficiaries of the changing mobile handset IC market. With more than $150 million cash on hand earlier this year, the company was talking about expanding its customer base and diversifying its revenue sources. MIPS said its board is evaluating Ceva's proposal before deciding which offer to accept. It said it is now in discussions with Ceva. Ceva's DSP cores complement MIPS' architecture processors, but in ways that differ from Imagination's graphics cores that are used alongside MIPS processors. For example, Ceva and MIPS cores are often used together in home entertainment systems, although Ceva has also been successful in mobile communications applications where MIPS cores are rarely found.