MIPS to Instruction Execution Time Converter
Convert between MIPS (million instructions per second) and average instruction execution time in nanoseconds. Also derive MIPS from clock frequency and CPI. Great for CPU performance study.
Input
Conversion direction
Derive from clock frequency & CPI (optional)
Enter both and MIPS is calculated as clock frequency (MHz) ÷ CPI.
Result
Average instruction time (per instruction)
10ns
MIPS
100 MIPS
Average instruction time
10 ns
Instructions per second
100,000,000 instructions
| Performance | 100 MIPS (million instructions/sec) |
| Average instruction time | 10 ns (= 0.01 μs) |
| Instructions per second | 100,000,000 instructions |
| Relationship | Avg instruction time (ns) = 1000 ÷ MIPS |
How it works
- MIPS measures processing performance as the number of instructions executed per second in millions, and the average instruction execution time (ns) is found with "1000 ÷ MIPS". For example, 100 MIPS equals 10 ns per instruction.
- With "Instruction time → MIPS", the entered average instruction execution time (ns) is reversed into MIPS using "MIPS = 1000 ÷ time". The result updates in real time in either direction.
- If you enter both clock frequency (MHz) and CPI (clocks needed per instruction), performance is calculated as "MIPS = clock frequency ÷ CPI". This takes priority over the MIPS / instruction-time field above.
- The result also displays the number of instructions executed per second (the million-instructions-per-second value expanded to a full count), making the performance easier to picture.
- The MIPS handled here is a theoretical figure that simply counts instructions. Real programs are affected by instruction types, memory access, pipelining and more, so values can differ from benchmark results.
- Useful for checking the common "MIPS and instruction time conversion" and "deriving MIPS from clock frequency and CPI" calculations seen in computer fundamentals exams.
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