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How Many Bits Is the PSP? Architecture Breakdown (Not a Single Number)

The PSP doesn't have a single "bit" rating like 8-bit/16-bit/32-bit/64-bit consoles of the past. It's a **heterogeneous System-on-Chip (SoC)** with multiple processors of different widths.

Processor Breakdown

Component	Architecture	Width / Details
Main CPU (Allegrex)	MIPS II (MIPS32R2 subset)	32-bit General Purpose. 333 MHz (1-3000) / 222 MHz (1000). SIMD (Vector) unit: 128-bit (4x32-bit lanes).
Media Engine (VFPU + VPU)	Custom VLIW / SIMD	128-bit Vector Floating Point (VFPU) + Vector Processing (VPU). Handles graphics transform, physics, audio, video decode.
GPU (GE - Graphics Engine)	Custom Fixed-Function + Programmable	Processes 128-bit vertices/commands. Rendering pipeline is 32-bit color (8:8:8:8).
Audio DSP	Custom	16-bit/24-bit sample processing. Virtual Audio (reverb, ADPCM, ATRAC3+).
Bus / Memory Controller	64-bit Data Bus	Connects CPU/ME/GE to 32 MB (1000) / 64 MB (2000/3000/Go) eDRAM (Main RAM). Bandwidth: ~2.6 GB/s.

What "Bit" Means Here

CPU Word Size: 32-bit (Address space: 4 GB theoretical, 32 MB physical).
SIMD/Vector Width: 128-bit (Media Engine / VFPU) — this is the "128-bit" marketing claim (like PS2 "128-bit Emotion Engine").
Bus Width: 64-bit.
Security Kirk (Crypto): 128-bit AES / ECDSA / SHA-1.

Comparison

PS1: 32-bit CPU (MIPS), 32-bit Bus.
PS2: 128-bit Marketing (Emotion Engine 128-bit VU0/VU1), 64-bit CPU Core, 128-bit Bus.
PSP: 32-bit CPU Core, 128-bit Media Engine, 64-bit Bus. Closer to PS2 in vector width, but scalar CPU is 32-bit.
PS Vita: 4x ARM Cortex-A9 (32-bit) + SGX543MP4+ (64-bit/128-bit GPU).

Answer: **32-bit CPU, 128-bit Vector/SIMD Media Engine, 64-bit System Bus.** Marketing called it "128-bit" to match PS2.

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