MicroProcessor Engineering Limited

Last updated 4 March 2008

MicroProcessor Engineering specialises in real time and embedded systems. MPE provides tools for the complete development cycle including hardware, software and firmware. These products operate on a large range of embedded targets.

MPE was founded in 1981 as a hardware company, making single board computers. The requirements of portability and development speed led us into high level languages. With our background in machinery control, telemetry and systems software, we were led to select Forth as our software tool of first choice. With our mature VFX compiler technology development, MPE can offer Forth development systems that produce code as fast as that for any other language, but with all the benefits of an interactive development cycle and traditional Forth implementations. Another significant development is the DocGen system that allows HTML and PDF manuals to be generated directly from the project source code.

Our current hardware ranges includes the JTAG Widget debugger for ARM chips. Recent developments tend be based around ARM CPUs. These are supported by our Forth cross compilers and the PowerNet TCP/IP stack and embedded Web server.

MPE consultancy services stem from both the hardware and software or both, and keep us in tune with the requirements of users, so helping us to improve our products. We eat our own dog-food! Projects range from small embedded systems to supporting a project with over 850,000 lines of Forth source code.

Recent projects include building management, vending machines, bomb disposal machinery, PABX, financial systems, data loggers, and construction planning software. We also provide training courses, consultancy, and contract programming services.

Our customer base includes, among others: Astell Scientific, AWE, British Telecom, British Gas, Brown Root Vickers, CEGB, Cementation, Construction Computer Software, Department of Transport, Disarmco, Europay International, Farnell, GEC Plessey Avionics, Intersil, ISRO, ITT, JWK International, Lucas CAV, Marconi Space and Defence, Metropolitan Police, NASA, Nuclear Electric, Philips, Rolls Royce, Rushton Diesels, Rutherford Appleton Labs, Saab, Safer Systems, Shell UK Oil, Sun Microsystems, Thorn EMI, Trafalgar House, Yorkshire TV, and many universities and research labs. MPE software and hardware are specified as the standard development tools for the Harris RTX2010RH rad-hard processor, which has been used for many satellite and space applications, and has now been cloned by MPE for use in FPGAs. On one shuttle flight, three out of four experiments were programmed in Forth, each team having chosen Forth individually. Forth is approved by NASA for high reliability applications.