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MIPSAssembly/PrintVersion
MIPSAssembly/Cover
TheMIPSmicroprocessorparadigmwascreatedin1981fromworkdonebyJ.L.HennessyatStanford
University.Sincethattime,theMIPSparadigmhasbeensoinfluential,thatnearlyeverymodernday
processorfamilymakessomeuseoftheconceptsderivedfromthatoriginalresearch.Thisbookwill
discusstheMIPSarchitectureand(perhapsmostimportantly)MIPSassemblyprogramming.
Thisbookisinanearlystageofdevelopment.Anycontributionswouldbehelpfulandappreciated.
TheMIPSmicroprocessorparadigmwascreatedin1981fromworkdonebyJ.L.HennessyatStanford
University.Sincethattime,theMIPSparadigmhasbeensoinfluentialthatnearlyeverymodernday
processorfamilymakessomeuseoftheconceptsderivedfromthatoriginalresearch.Thisbookwill
discusstheMIPSarchitectureand(perhapsmoreimportantly)MIPSassemblyprogramming.

TableofContents
Introduction

Section1:IntroductiontoMIPS
MIPSArchitecture
MIPSProcessors
MIPSDetails

Section2:MIPSInstructions
MIPSInstructions
ArithmeticInstructions
ControlFlowInstructions
MemoryInstructions
FloatingPointInstructions
MiscellaneousInstructions

Section3:ProgrammingMIPS
MIPSAssemblers
MIPSEmulation
Subroutines
ProgrammingStyle

Section4:AdvancedMIPS
InstructionFormats
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SystemInstructions
Pseudoinstructions
RegisterFile
Exceptions

ResourcesandLicensing
Resources
Licensing
Pleaseadd{{alphabetical}}onlytobooktitlepages.

Introduction
Thispageisgoingtoserveasageneralforewordaboutthisbook.

WhatThisBookisAbout
ThisbookisgoingtodiscusstheMIPSassemblylanguage.Thisbookwillcovernotonlythestraight
forwardfacetofthissubject(howtoprogramMIPS),butwillalsolookdeeper,anddiscussMIPSfroma
verylowlevel.Inthisway,thisbookshouldbeusefulbothforpeoplejustlearningtoprogramMIPS,and
alsotopeoplewhoarelookingtodoadvancedtasksinMIPS(suchaswriteaMIPSassemblerprogram,or
constructalowlevelOSkernelinMIPS).ThisbookwillnottalkaboutthespecificsofMIPShardware,
however.

WhoThisBookisFor
ThisbookisdesignedtobeareferenceforallpeoplewhoareinterestedinMIPS.Thisbookstartsoffwith
thebasicsbehindthelanguage,anddiscussesthevariousoperationsinsuchamannerthatbeginnerswillbe
abletogetahandleofMIPSprogramming.However,thisbookalsocontainsanumberofadvanced
sectionsforexperiencedprogrammerswhoarelookingatdoingadvancedprojectswiththeMIPS
architecture.

HowThisBookisOrganized
Thisbookisorganizedinsuchafashionthatthemostsimplematerialispresentedfirst,andthemost
advancedmaterialissavedtowardstheend.Thefirstsectionofthebookisreservedforhistoricaland
interestinginformationaboutMIPS,andlistingsofrealworldMIPSimplementations.Thesecondsection
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isgoingtogointotheMIPSassemblylanguage,talkingabouteachinstructionindividually,andexplaining
howtousethem.Thethirdsectionisgoingtotalkaboutthetopicsofprogramming,assembling,and
emulatingMIPScode.Finally,thefourthsectionisgoingtotalkaboutadvancedtopics,suchastheinternal
machinecodeofMIPSmachines,thenatureofpseudoinstructions,someadvancedsysteminstructions,and
handlingexceptions.

WheretoGoFromHere
ThisbookwillserveasacompletereferencetoprogrammingMIPS.Whiletherearenowikimedia
resourcesspecificallydesignedtofollowthistext,thereadermaybenefitfromreadingabouthigherlevel
languages,orassemblers,oranotheradvancedprogrammingtopic.
FormoreinformationabouthowtodesignMIPSandothertypesofmicroprocessorsystems,see
MicroprocessorDesign.

MIPS
Architecture

Section1:
IntroductiontoMIPS

MIPSHistory
TheMIPSarchitecture
MIPSisaregisterbasedarchitecture,meaningtheCPUusesregisterstoperformoperationson.Thereare
othertypesofprocessorsoutthereaswell,suchasstackbasedprocessorsandaccumulatorbased
processors.
RegistersarememoryjustlikeRAM,exceptregistersaremuchsmallerthanRAM,andaremuchfaster.In
MIPStheCPUcanonlydooperationsonregisters,andspecialimmediatevalues.
MIPSprocessorshave32generalpurposeregisters,butsomeofthesearereserved.Afairnumberof
registershoweverareavailableforyouruse.Forexample,oneoftheseregisters,theprogramcounter,
containsthememoryaddressofthenextinstructiontobeexecuted.Astheprocessorexecutesthe
instruction,theprogramcounterisincremented,andthenextmemoryaddressisfetched,executed,andso
on.

WhyMIPS?
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TheMIPSarchitectureisaReducedInstructionSetComputer(RISC).AsaRISCarchitecture,itdoesn't
assignindividualinstructionstocomplex,logicallyintensivetasks.Thisisincontrasttocomplex
instructionsetcomputer(CISC)architecturesliketheDECVAX,whichhadaninstructiontomultiply
polynomialsandanothertoperformacyclicredundancycheck(CRC),oftenusedinTCP/IP.Atthetime,it
wasthoughtthatimplementingsuchinstructionsinhardwarewouldresultinperformanceincreasefor
programsthatusedthem,evenifitresultedinhighlycomplexprocessordesign.MIPSandotherRISC
architectureswerebasedonthephilosophythat,amongotherthings,byonlyimplementingasmallcore
(onlyafewdozeninstructions,insteadofseveralhundred)ofthemostcommoninstructions,architects
couldsimplifythedesignandspeedupthemajorityofcommoninstructionssomuchthatthecostof
implementingcomplexprogramsasmultipleinstructionswouldbehidden.
MuchhasbeenwrittenontheRISCversusCISCdebate,[1][2][3][4]soforourpurposesweshallfocusonthe
consequencesoftheMIPSdesignchoices:
AllMIPSinstructionsare32bitslong.
Thismakeshardwareforaccessinganddecodinginstructionsstraightforward.
Thisalsomeansthereareafinitenumberofinstructions.
AllMIPSinstructionsbelongtooneofthreeinstructionformats.Thismakesdecodinginstructions
simpleforbothhumansandhardware.Sincetheinstructionformatisregular,itdoesn'ttakemuch
worktolearnmostoftheMIPSinstructionset.

MIPSPhilosophies
Simplicityfavorsregularity
Gooddesigndemandsgoodcompromise
Smallerisfaster
Makethecommontasksthefastest

MIPSProcessors
ThispageisgoingtotalkaboutsomeofthespecificMIPSimplementations,andMIPSrelatives.
MostMIPSimplementationsusetheclassic5stagepipeline:instructionfetch,instructiondecode/register
fetch,execute,memoryaccess,andregisterwriteback.

Furtherreading
TheMicrochipPIC32microcontrollersarebasedonaMIPS32M4KCore.
TheMIPSarchitectureisoneofseveralpopulararchitecturesinembeddedsystems.
ThePlayStationusesaMIPSprocessor.SeveralWikibooksdiscussprogrammingthePlayStation:
Emulation/OnPlaystation,LinuxGuide/PlayStation3,PSPProgramming,MapThis!.

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MIPSDetails
Registers
MIPShas32generalpurposeregistersandanother32floatingpointregisters.Registersallbeginwitha
dollarsymbol($).Thefloatingpointregistersarenamed$f0,$f1,...,$f31.Thegeneralpurposeregisters
havebothnamesandnumbers,andarelistedbelow.WhenprogramminginMIPSassembly,itisusually
besttousetheregisternames.
Number

Name

Comments

$0

$zero

Alwayszero

$1

$at

Reservedforassembler

$2,$3

$v0,$v1

Firstandsecondreturnvalues,respectively

$4,...,$7

$a0,...,$a3 Firstfourargumentstofunctions

$8,...,$15 $t0,...,$t7 Temporaryregisters

$16,...,$23 $s0,...,$s7 Savedregisters
$24,$25

$t8,$t9

Moretemporaryregisters

$26,$27

$k0,$k1

Reservedforkernel(operatingsystem)

$28

$gp

Globalpointer

$29

$sp

Stackpointer

$30

$fp

Framepointer

$31

$ra

Returnaddress

Ingeneral,therearemanyregistersthatcanbeusedinyourprograms:thetentemporaryregistersandthe
eightsavedregisters.Temporaryregistersaregeneralpurposeregistersthatcanbeusedforarithmeticand
otherinstructionsfreely,whilesavedregistersmustbesavedatprocedureentry,andrestoredatprocedure
exit.
Temporaryregisternamesallstartwitha$t.Forinstance,thereare$t0,$t1...$t9.thismeansthereare10
temporaryregistersthatcanbeusedwithoutworryingaboutsavingandrestoringtheircontents.Thesaved
registersarenamed$s0to$s7.
Thezeroregister,isnamed$zero($0),andisastaticregister:italwayscontainsthevaluezero.This
registermaynotbeusedasthetargetofastoreoperation,becauseitsvalueishardwiredin,andcannotbe
changedbytheprogram.
Therearealsoseveralregisterstowhichtheprogrammerdoesnothavedirectaccess.Amongthesearethe
ProgramCounter(PC),whichstorestheaddressoftheinstructionexecuting,andthe"hi"and"lo"registers,
whichareusedinmultiplicationanddivision,whichhaveresultslongerthan32bits(multiplicationmay
resultina64bitproductanddivisionresultsinaquotientandremainder).ProgrammerschangethePCon
branchesandjumps.Therearespecialinstructionstomovedatatoandfromthehiandloregisters.
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InstructionFormats
Thereare3differenttypesofinstructions:RInstructions,IInstructions,andJInstructions.

RInstructions
RInstructionstakethreearguments:twosourceregisters(rtandrs),andadestinationregister(rd).R
instructionsarewrittenusingthefollowingformat:
instructionrd,rs,rt
Forexample,
add$t0,$t1,$t2

Addsthevaluesof$t1and$t2andstorestheresultin$t0.
Whenassembledintomachinecode,anRinstructionisrepresentedasfollows:
opcode
6bits

rs

rt

rd

shamt func

5bits 5bits 5bits 5bits 6bits

ForRformatinstructions,theopcode,or"operationcode"isalwayszero.rs,rt,andrdcorrespondtothe
twosourceandonedestinationregisters,respectively.shamtisusedinshiftinstructionsinsteadofrtto
makethehardwaresimpler.Inassembly,toshiftthevaluein$t4twobitstotheleftandplacetheresultin
$t5:
sll$t5,$t4,2

SincetheopcodeiszeroforallRformatinstructions,funcspecifiestothehardwareexactlywhichR
formatinstructiontoexecute.Theaddexampleabovewouldbeencodedasfollows:
opcodersrtrdshamtfunct
00000001001010100100000000100000

SinceitisanRformatinstruction,thefirstsixbits(opcode)are0.Thenext5bitscorrespondtors,which
inthisexampleis$t1.Fromthetableabove,wefindthat$t1is$9,whichinbinaryis01001.Likewise,the
nextfivebitsencode$t2=$10=01010.Thedestinationis$t0=$8=01000.Wearenotperforminga
shift,soshamtis00000.Finally,sincethefuncfortheaddinstructionis100000.
Fortheshiftexampleabove,theopcodefieldisagain0sincethisisanRformatinstruction.Thersfieldis
unusedinshifts,soweleavethenextfivebitsat0.Thertfieldis$t4=$12=01100.Therdfieldis$t5=
$13=01101.Theshiftamount,shamt,is2=00010.Finally,thefuncfieldforsllis000000.Thus,the
encodingforsll$t5,$t4,2is:
opcodersrtrdshamtfunct
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00000000000011000110100010000000

IInstructions
Iinstructionstaketworegisterargumentsanda16bit"immediate"value.Animmediateisavaluethatis
storedaspartoftheinstructioninsteadofinmemory.Thismakesaccessingconstantsmuchfasterthanif
wehadtoputconstantsinmemoryandthenloadthem(hencethename).Iformatinstructions,likeR
formatinstructions,specifythetargetregister(rt)first.Nextcomesonesourceregister(rs)andfinallythe
immediatevalue.
instructionrt,rs,imm
Forexample,let'ssaythatwewanttoaddthevalue5totheregister$t1,andstoretheresultin$t0:
addi$t0,$t1,5

Iformatinstructionsarerepresentedinmachinecodeasfollows:
opcode
6bits

rs

rt

imm

5bits 5bits 16bits

Theopcodespecifieswhichoperationisrequested.rsandrtarefivebitseach,asbefore,andinthesame
positionsastheRformatinstructions.Theimmfieldholdstheimmediatevalue.Dependingonthe
instruction,theimmediateconstantmayeitherbesignextendedorzeroextended.Ifa32bitimmediateis
needed,aspecialinstruction,lui("loadupperimmediate")existsforloadinganimmediateintotheupper16
bitsofaregister.ThatregistercanthenbelogicallyORedwithanother16bitimmediatetostorethefinal
valueinthatregister.ThatvaluecanthenbeusedinnormalRformatinstructions.Thefollowingsequence
ofinstructionsstoresthebitpattern010101010101...intoregister$t0:
lui$t0,0x5555
ori$t0,$t0,0x5555

Typically,theassemblerwillautomaticallysplit32bitconstantsinthiswaysotheprogrammerdoesn't
havetoworryaboutit.
Theaddiexamplefromabovewouldbeencodedasfollows.Theaddiinstructionhasanopcodeof001000.
Thesourceregister,$t1,isnumber9,or01001inbinary.Thetargetregister,$t0,isnumber8,or01000in
binary.Fiveis101inbinary,soaddi$t0,$t1,5inmachinecodeis:
opcodersrtimm
00100001001010000000000000000101

JInstructions

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Jinstructionsareusedtotransferprogramflowtoagiven,hardcodedoffsetfromthecurrentvalueofthe
PCregister.Jinstructionsarealmostalwayswrittenwithlabels:theassemblerandlinkerwillconvertthe
labelintoanumericalvalue.AJinstructiontakesonlyoneargument:theaddresstojumpto.
instructionaddr
TherearetwoJformatinstructions:jandjal.Thelatterwillbediscussedlater.Thej("jump")instruction
tellstheprocessortoimmediatelyskiptotheinstructionaddressedbyaddr.Toexample,tojumptoa
label1:
jlabel1

AJformatinstructionisencodedas
opcode addr
6bits

26bits

OnMIPS32machines,addressesare32bitswide,so26bitsmaynotbeenoughtospecifywhich
instructiontojumpto.Fortunately,sinceallinstructionsare32bits(fourbytes)wide,wecanassumethat
allinstructionsstartatabytethat'sdivisibleby4(weareinfactguaranteedthisbytheloader).Inbinary,a
numberthatisdivisibleby4endswithtwozeros(justlikeanumberthat'sdivisibleby100indecimal
alwaysendsintwozeros).Therefore,wecanallowtheassemblertoleaveoutthelasttwozerosandhave
thehardwarereinsertthem.Thiseffectivelymakestheaddressfield28bits.Thefinalfourbitswillbe
borrowedfromtheaddressofthecurrentinstruction,sowecannotletaprogramstraddlea256MB
boundary,becauseajumpacrosstheboundarywouldrequireachangeinthe4uppermostbits.
Intheexampleabove,iflabel1specifiedaninstructionasaddress120,or1111000inbinary,wecan
encodethejumpexampleaboveinmachinecodeasfollows.Theopcodeforjis2,or10inbinary,andwe
mustchopoffthelasttwobitsofthejumpaddress,leavingitat11110.Thus,themachinecodeforj120is:
opcode|addr|
00001000000000000000000000011110

MIPS
Instructions
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Writingassembly
code
Anassemblylanguageprogramhasafewcommonfeatures.Theseare:
labels
sections
directives
comments
commands

Comments
InMIPSassembly,commentsaredenotedwithanumbersign("#").Everythingafterthatsignonthesame
lineisacommentandisskippedbytheassembler'slexer.

Labels
Alabelissomethingtomakeyourlifesimple.Whenyoureferenceapieceofyourprogram,insteadof
havingtocountlines,youcanjustgiveitaname.Youusethisinloops,jumps,andvariablenames.
Labelsdon'tappearinyourfinalcode,they'reonlythereforconvenience,oneofthefewperksyou'llget
fromthetypicalMIPSassembler.Italsomakeslifeeasyfortheassembler,becauseitcannoweasilygo
aroundrelocatingandlinkingcode.Don'tworryifyoudon'tknowwhatthoseare,that'llcomelater.
LabelsinMIPSassembly,actuallyinmostvariantsofASMaswell,arecreatedbywriting
name:

wherenameisanameyouusetorefertothislabel.Notethat,youcan'tcreatealabelwiththesamename
asaMIPSinstruction.
LabelsarethesameastheirCcousins,thetargetsofgotooperators.

Sections
Asectionisawayofdividinganassemblylanguageprogramupintotheinstructionsandthedatalogically.
Sinceyourassemblyprogramisloadedintomemory,alltheprocessorneedstoknowisthestartof
execution(knownastheentrypoint)andmerelyjustincrementstheinstructionpointerandcontinues
along.Ifdataisinterspersedintheinstructioncodeinmemory,theprocessorneedstoknowwhatisdata
andwhatisinstructionswhichservesforamuchmorecomplicatedprocessor.Forsimplicity,thedatais
setoffinadifferentareathantheinstructions.Sectionsareusedforthispurpose.
TherearetwosectionsyouneedtobemindfulofinMIPSprogramming:thetextanddatasections.The
textsectionholdsyourassemblyprogram,andthedatasectionholdsyourdata.Onedesignatesatext
sectionbystartingwith.textandthestartofadatasectionby.data.
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Directives
Theprocessorassembler(oryouremulator)understandsafewspecialcommandsthatperformspecific
taskstomakeyourlifeeasier:forexamplecreatingmemoryspaceforyoutostoredatainvariables.
Ifyouwishtocreateavariableforanumberinyourassemblyprogram,youmaywantto:
1. switchtothedatasection
2. createalabeltocreateamemoryreferenceforyourvariable
3. giveitanappropriatename
4. allocatesomememoryforit
5. alignitproperlyinmemory.
6. switchbacktothetextsection
Fromwhatwehavelearned,wecanwritetheMIPSassemblycodeuptostep3:
.data
variable_name:

Butnowhowcanweallocatesomememory?Weusethe.spacedirective.Anintegertakesup4bytes,
usually,sowewrite
.data
variable_name:
.space4

Weneedtoalignthedatainmemorynow(we'llexplainthisbelow),soweusethe.aligndirective
.data
variable_name:
.space4
.align2
.text

Andwe'veswitchedbacktothetextsection.
MemorylocationsinMIPSassemblerneedtobealignedthatis,thatmemorylocationsmustbeginonthe
correctlocationotherwisetheprocessorwillcrash.4byteintegersmustbealignedevery4bytes,andso
on.The.alignndirectivealignsthedatatoamemorycellfitfor2nbytes.Therefore,for32bit(4byte)
integersweuse.align2for22or4bytes.Alignsthenextvariableorinstructiononabytethatisa
multipleofnumber.Toalignthespaceallocated,the'alignn'shouldcomebeforethe'spacex'declaration.
Forexample,hereisasampleforallocating6words(6x4=24bytes)inmemoryandaligningthemat
wordboundaries
.data
.align2
my_var_name:
.space24

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ArithmeticInstructions
RegisterArithmeticInstructions
Instruction:

add

type:

RType

Thisinstructionaddsthetwooperandstogether,andstorestheresultinthedestinationregister.Negative
numbersarehandledautomaticallyusingtwo'scomplementnotation,sodifferentinstructionsdonotneed
tobeusedforsignedandunsignednumbers.
Instruction:

sub

type:

RType

Thesubinstructionsubtractsthesecondsourceoperandfromthefirstsourceoperand,andstorestheresult
inthedestinationoperand.Inpseudocode,theoperationperformsthefollowing:
rd:=rsrt

Bothaddandsubtrapifoverflowoccurs.However,someprogrammingsystems,likeC,ignoreinteger
overflow,sotoimproveperformance"unsigned"versionsoftheinstructionsdon'ttraponoverflow.
Instruction:

addu

type:

RType

Instruction:

subu

type:

RType

MultiplicationandDivision
Themultiplyanddivideoperationsareslightlydifferentfromotheroperations.EveniftheyareRtype
operations,theyonlytake2operands.Theresultisstoredinaspecial64bitresultregister.Wewilltalk
abouttheresultregisterafterthissection.
Instruction:

mult

type:

RType

Thisoperationmultipliesthetwooperandstogether,andstorestheresultinrd.Multiplicationoperations
mustdifferentiatebetweensignedandunsignedquantities,becausethesimplicityofTwo'sComplement
Notationdoesnotcarryovertomultiplication.Themultinstructionmultipliesandsignextendssigned
numbers.
Theresultofmultiplying232bitnumbersisa64bitresult.Wewilldiscussthe64bitresultsbelow.
Instruction:

multu

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RType
Themultuinstructionmultipliesthetwooperandstogether,andstorestheresultinrd.Thisinstructionis
forunsignednumbersonly,anddoesnotsignextendanegativeresult.Thisoperationalsocreatesa64bit
result.
Instruction:

div

type:

RType

Thedivinstructiondividesthefirstargumentbythesecondargument.Thequotientisstoredinthelowest
32bitsoftheresultregister.Theremainderisstoredinthehighest32bitsoftheresultregister.Like
multiplication,divisionrequiresadifferentiationbetweensignedandunsignednumbers.Thisoperation
usessignednumbers.
Instruction:

divu

type:

RType

Likethedivinstruction,thisoperationdividesthefirstoperandbythesecondoperand.Thequotientis
storedinthelowest32bitsoftheresult,andtheremainderisstoredinthehighest32bitsoftheresult.This
operanddividesunsignednumbers,andwillnotsignextendtheresult.

64BitResults
The64bitresultregisterisbrokenintotwo32bitsegments:HIandLO.Wecaninterfacewiththese
registersusingthemfhiandmflooperations,respectively.
Instruction:

mfhi

type:

RType

Takesonly1operand.Thisinstructionmovesthehigh32bitsoftheresultregisterintothetargetregister.
Instruction:

mflo

type:

RType

Alsotakesonly1operand.MovesthevaluefromtheLOpartoftheresultregisterintothespecified
register.
Iftheupper(mostsignificant)32bitsofaproductareunimportanttocomputation,programmersmaysave
astepbyusinginstructionsthatdiscardtheupper32bits.
Instruction:

mul

type:

RType

Thereisnounsignedversionofthemulinstruction.Themulinstructionmayalsoclobbertheexisting
valuesinHIandLO.

RegisterLogicInstructions
Theseoperationsperformbitwiselogicaloperationsontheiroperands.

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and

type:

RType

PerformsabitwiseANDoperationonthetwooperands,andstorestheresultinrd.
Instruction:

or

type:

RType

type:

RType

PerformsabitwiseORoperationonthetwooperands,andstorestheresultinrd.
Instruction:

nor

PerformsabitwiseNORoperationonthetwooperands,andstorestheresultinrd.
Instruction:

xor

type:

RType

PerformsabitwiseXORoperationonthetwooperands,andstorestheresultinrd.

ImmediateArithmeticInstructions
Theseinstructionssignextendthe16bitimmediatevalueto32bitsandperformsthesameoperationasthe
instructionwithoutthetrailing"i".
Instruction:

addi

type:

IType

Instruction:

addiu

type:

IType

type:

IType

type:

IType

type:

IType

Tosubtract,useanegativeimmediate.

ImmediateLogicInstructions
Alllogicalfunctionszeroextendtheimmediate.
Instruction:

andi

TakesthebitwiseANDofrswiththeimmediateandstorestheresultinrt.
Instruction:

ori

TakesthebitwiseORofrswiththeimmediateandstorestheresultinrt.
Instruction:

xori

TakesthebitwiseXORofrswithatheimmediateandstorestheresultinrt.

Shiftinstructions
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sll

type:

RType

type:

RType

type:

RType

Logicalshiftleft:rdrt<<shamt.Fillsbitsfromrightwithzeros.
Instruction:

srl

Logicalshiftright:rdrt>>shamt.Fillsbitsfromleftwithzeros.
Instruction:

sra

Arithmeticshiftright.Ifrtisnegative,theleadingbitsarefilledinwithonesinsteadofzeros:rdrt>>
shamt.
Becausenotallshiftamountsareknowninadvance,MIPSdefinesversionsoftheseinstructionsthatshift
bytheamountinthersregister.Thebehaviorisotherwiseidentical.
Instruction:

sllv

type:

RType

Instruction:

srlv

type:

RType

Instruction:

srav

type:

RType

ControlFlowInstructions
JumpInstruction
ThejumpinstructionsloadanewvalueintothePCregister,whichstoresthevalueoftheinstructionbeing
executed.Thiscausesthenextinstructionreadfrommemorytoberetrievedfromanewlocation.
Instruction:

type:

JType

ThejinstructionloadsanimmediatevalueintothePCregister.Thisimmediatevalueiseitheranumeric
offsetoralabel(andtheassemblerconvertsthelabelintoanoffset).
Instruction:

jr

type:

RType

ThejrinstructionloadsthePCregisterwithavaluestoredinaregister.Assuch,thejrinstructioncanbe
calledassuch:
jr$t0

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assumingthetargetjumplocationislocatedin$t0.

JumpandLink
JumpandLinkinstructionsaresimilartothejumpinstructions,exceptthattheystoretheaddressofthe
nextinstruction(theoneimmediatelyafterthejump)inthereturnaddress($ra$31)register.Thisallowsa
subroutinetoreturntothemainbodyroutineaftercompletion.
Instruction:

jal

type:

JType

Likethejinstruction,exceptthatthereturnaddressisloadedintothe$raregister.
Instruction:

jalr

type:

RType

Thesameasthejrinstruction,exceptthatthereturnaddressisloadedintothe$raregister.

Example
Let'ssaythatwehaveasubroutinethatstartswiththelabelMySub.Wecancallthesubroutineusingthe
followingline:
jalMySub
...

AndwecandefineMySubasfollowstoreturntothemainbodyoftheparentroutine:
jr$ra

BranchInstructions
Insteadofusingrtasadestinationoperand,rsandrtarebothusedassourceoperandsandtheimmediateis
signextendedandaddedtothePCtocalculatetheaddressoftheinstructiontojumptoifthebranchis
taken.
Instruction:

beq

type:

IType

type:

IType

type:

IType

Branchifrsandrtareequal.Ifrs=rt,PCPC+4+imm.
Instruction:

bne

Branchifrsandrtarenotequal.Ifrsrt,PCPC+4+imm.
Instruction:

bgez

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Branchifrsisgreaterthanorequaltozero.Ifrs0,PCPC+4+imm.
Instruction:

blez

type:

IType

type:

IType

type:

IType

Branchifrsislessthanorequaltozero.Ifrs0,PCPC+4+imm.
Instruction:

bgtz

Branchifrsisgreaterthanzero.Ifrs>0,PCPC+4+imm.
Instruction:

bltz

Branchifrsislessthanzero.Ifrs<0,PCPC+4+imm.

SetInstructions
Theseinstructionssetrdto1iftheirconditionistrue.Theycanbeusedincombinationwithbeqandbne
and$zerotobranchbasedonthecomparisonoftworegisters.
Instruction:

slt

type:

RType

type:

IType

type:

RType

type:

IType

Ifrs<rt,rd1,else0.
Instruction:

slti

Ifrs<imm,rd1,else0.Theimmediateissignextended.
Instruction:

sltu

Ifrs<rt,rd1,else0.Treatrsandrtasunsignedintegers.
Instruction:

sltiu

Ifrs<imm,rd1,else0.Theimmediateissignextended,butbothrsandtheextendedimmediateare
treatedasunsignedintegers.Thesignextensionallowstheimmediatetorepresentbothverylargeandvery
smallunsignedintegers.

MemoryInstructions
Loadandstoreinstructionsuseaspecialsyntax:
instrrt,imm(rs)
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Thememoryaddressusedfortheloadorstoreisrs+imm.Theimmediateissignextended.

LoadInstructions
Instruction:

lbu

type:

IType

type:

IType

Loadsabyteanddoesnotsignextendthevalue.
Instruction:

lhu

Loadsahalfword,ortwobytes,anddoesnotsignextendthevalue.Thehalfwordmustbealigned(i.e.,it
muststartatanevenaddress).
Instruction:

lw

type:

IType

Loadsaword(fourbytes)frommemory.Thewordmustbealigned(i.e.,thelasttwobitsoftheaddress
mustbezero).

StoreInstructions
Instruction:

sb

type:

IType

type:

IType

type:

IType

Storestheleastsignificant(rightmost)byteofrttomemory.
Instruction:

sh

Storestheleastsignificant(rightmost)halfwordofrttomemory.
Instruction:

sw

Storesthecontentsofrtinmemory.

FloatingPointInstructions
Arithmetic
Integerimplementationoffloatingpointaddition
#Initializevariables
add$s0,$t0,$zero#firstintegervalue
add$s1,$t1,$zero#secondintegervalue
add$s2,$zero,$zero#initializesumvariableto0
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add$t3,$zero,$zero#initializeSUMOFSIGNIFICANDSvalueto0
#getEXPONENTfromvalues
sll$s5,$s0,1#gettingtheexponentvalue
srl$s5,$s5,24#$s5=firstvalueEXPONENT
sll$s6,$s1,1#gettingtheexponentvalue
srl$s6,$s6,24#$s6=secondvalueEXPONENT
#getSIGNfromvalues
srl$s3,$s0,31#$s3=firstvalueSIGN
srl$s4,$s1,31#$s4=secondvalueSIGN
#getFRACTIONfromvalues
sll$s7,$s0,9
srl$s7,$s0,9#$s7=firstvalueFRACTION
sll$t8,$s1,9
srl$t8,$s1,9#$t8=secondvalueFRACTION
#comparetheexponentsofthetwonumbers
compareExp:######################
beq$s5,$s6,addSig
blt$s5,$s6,shift1#iffirst<second,gotoshift1
blt$s6,$s5,shift2#ifsecond<first,gotoshift2
jcompareExp
shift1:#shiftthesmallernumbertotheright
srl$s7,$s7,1#shifttotheright1
addi$s5,$s5,1
jcompareExp

Compare
Load
Store
Branch
FurtherReading
FloatingPoint

MIPSAssemblers
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Thispageisgoingtolist
someassemblersfor
programminginMIPS,and
willdiscusshowtoprogram
usingMIPSassemblers.
/editbyTillFischer,
UniversityofUlm
(Germany)

Section4:
ProgrammingMIPS

HeresalinktoaDownload
oftheMARS,anemulationAssemblerProgrambytheMissouriStateUniversity,weusethatoneinour
StudiesinordertolearnAssembler:http://courses.missouristate.edu/KenVollmar/MARS/

MIPSEmulation
ThispageisgoingtotalkaboutusingMIPSemulatorstotestMIPScodeonanonMIPScomputer.
AcommonMIPSEmulatorisSpimwhichisfullycrossplatform.AnotheroneisMIPSAssemblerand
Simulator(http://xavier.perseguers.ch/programmation/mipsassembler.html),whichhasbeensuccessfuly
deployedinusedinafewhighschools.QEMU(http://wiki.qemu.org/Main_Page)isanothercommon
emulatorenvironmentforMIPS.YetanotherEmulatorisMARS
(http://courses.missouristate.edu/KenVollmar/MARS/)acrossplatformJavaMIPSIDE.
OpenVirtualPlatforms(OVP)http://www.OVPworld.org(http://www.OVPworld2.org)includesthefreely
availablesimulatorOVPsim,alibraryofmodelsofprocessors,peripheralsandplatforms,andAPIswhich
enableuserstodeveloptheirownmodels.Themodelsinthelibraryareopensource,writteninC,and
includetheMIPS4K,24Kand34Kcores.ThesemodelsarecreatedandmaintainedbyImperas
http://www.imperas.comandinpartnershipwithMIPSTechnologieshavebeentestedandassignedthe
MIPSVerified(tm)mark.SampleMIPSbasedplatformsincludebothbaremetalenvironmentsand
platformsforbootingunmodifiedLinuxbinaryimages.Theseplatforms/emulatorsareavailableassource
orbinariesandarefast,free,andeasytouse.OVPsimisdevelopedandmaintainedbyImperasandisvery
fast(100sofmillioninstructionspersecond),andbuilttohandlemulticorearchitectures.Todownloadthe
MIPSOVPsimsimulators/emulatorsvisithttp://www.OVPworld.org/mips
(http://www.OVPworld2.org/mips).

Subroutines
ThispageisgoingtotalkaboutusingsubroutinestructuresinMIPSAssembly.Also,thispagewilltalk
aboutsomeofthecommonmethodsbywhichhigherlevellanguageconstructsandsubroutinesare
translatedintoMIPSassemblycode.
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SubroutineMechanics
InMIPS,thegeneralpurposeregistersaretypicallytakentobethefunctionparametersandthefunction
variables,asneeded.Previousvaluesofthegeneralpurposeregistersarestoredonthestack.Attheendofa
subroutine,thevaluesofallregistersstoredinthismannerarerestoredfromthestack.
MIPSusesthestacktopreservetheseregisters.Thestackpointerpointstothebottomofthestack,butthe
framepointerpointstothetopofthelocalframe.Offsettingfromthestackorframepointerscanretrieve
thevarioussavedvaluesandfunctionparameters,asneeded.

StemandLeaf
Inthefunctionhierarchy,afunctionthatcallsotherfunctionsisknownasastemfunction.Afunction
whichcallsnootherfunctionsisknownasaleaffunction.Stemfunctionsmustsavethevalueof$raonthe
stack,sothatitscontentispreservedacrosstheotherfunctioncalls,andsothecalledfunctioncanreturnto
thecallingfunction,oritsparentfunction.
Itisimportanttonotethataleaffunctiondoesnotneedtopreservethevalueofthe$raregisterbecauseit
doesnotcallanyotherchildfunctionandhenceitsreturnaddressispreservedin$ra.

StackFrame
Afunctionmaysetupastackframe,withthe$spregisterpointingtothebottomofthestack,andthe$fp
registerpointingtothetopofthestackatthestartofthesubroutine.Inthismanner,$fpwillbepointingto
thefunction'sinputarguments(ifanyareonthestack),and$spwillbepointingtothelocalvariablesfor
thefunction.
Thevalueof$fpneedstobepreservedacrossfunctioncalls,andstemfunctionsneedtosavethevalueof
$fpbeforecallingachildfunction,andrestoreitfromthestackaftercallingthechildfunction.
Thevalueof$spdoesnotneedtobestoredonthestack,butfunctionsneedtotakecaretoreturn$sptothe
valueithadatthebeginningofthefunction,beforethefunctionreturns.Thismeansthatatthebeginningof
asubroutine,valuescanbepushedontothestack,andattheendofthesubroutine,allthosevaluesneedto
bepoppedrightbackoffthestack.Ifthisisnotdonecorrectly,itwilldestroythestackframeoftheparent
function,andpossiblycausethecomputertocrash.

SavedRegisters
Thereareanumberofregistersthatmustbepreservedacrossasubroutinecall.Thismeansthatifthe
subroutinewantstousethoseregisters,itmustsavethepreviousvaluesontothestack(orsomeother
place),andthenreloadthosevaluesattheendofthefunction.The$txregistersarealltemporaryregisters
anddonotneedtobesaved.Likewise,the$axregistersareallfunctionarguments,anddonotneedtobe
saved.Thr$v0and$v1registersarebothfunctionreturnvalues,anddonotneedtobesaved.
Thefollowingregistersdoneedtobepreservedacrossafunctioncall,andshouldbesavedbythefunction
iftheyaregoingtobeusedinthefunction:
$sx
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The"SavedTemporary"registers

MIPSandCLinkage
furtherreading
EmbeddedSystems/MixedCandAssemblyProgramming

ProgrammingStyle
ThispageisgoingtotalkaboutprogrammingstyleandcodeformattingtechniquesinMIPSAssembly.
Programmingstyleisanarbitraryconstructthatisdependantontheindividualprogrammer,butthispage
willshowsomecommonstylesanyway.
Good,consistentprogrammingstyleforassemblylanguagesingeneralisarguablymoreimportantthanfor
higherlevellanguages,asyoudon'thavetheluxuryofabstractingeventhesimplestofoperationsaway.
Forthatreason,commentsareevenmoreimportantthaninhigherlevellanguages!Thenecessityof
dealingwiththenittygrittymeansyourprogramwillgrowinlinesofcodeveryquickly,andsomeone's
goingtohavetoreadit.Whynotmaketheirlifeeasier?
Thereareseveralstylesandconventionsonemayadhereto.Doesn'tmattertoomuchwhichoneyouuse,
butbeconsistent!

Instruction
Formats

Section3:Advanced
MIPS

Thispageisgoingtodiscuss
theimplementationdetailsoftheMIPSinstructionformats.

RInstructions
Rinstructionsareusedwhenallthedatavaluesusedbytheinstructionarelocatedinregisters.
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AllRtypeinstructionshavethefollowingformat:
OPrd,rs,rt

Where"OP"isthemnemonicfortheparticularinstruction.rs,andrtarethesourceregisters,andrdisthe
destinationregister.Asanexample,theaddmnemoniccanbeusedas:
add$s1,$s2,$s3

Wherethevaluesin$s2and$s3areaddedtogether,andtheresultisstoredin$s1.Inthemainnarrativeof
thisbook,theoperandswillbedenotedbythesenames.

RFormat
ConvertinganRmnemonicintotheequivalentbinarymachinecodeisperformedinthefollowingway:
opcode rs rt rd shift(shamt) funct
opcode
Theopcodeisthemachinecoderepresentationoftheinstructionmnemonic.Severalrelated
instructionscanhavethesameopcode.Theopcodefieldis6bitslong(bit26tobit31).
rs,rt,rd
Thenumericrepresentationsofthesourceregistersandthedestinationregister.Thesenumbers
correspondtothe$Xrepresentationofaregister,suchas$0or$31.Eachofthesefieldsis5bits
long.(25to21,20to16,and15to11,respectively).Interestingly,ratherthanrsandrtbeingnamed
r1andr2(forsourceregister1and2),theregisterswerenamed"rs"and"rt"becausetcomesafters
inthealphabet.Thiswasmostlikelydonetoreducenumericalconfusion.
Shift(shamt)
Usedwiththeshiftandrotateinstructions,thisistheamountbywhichthesourceoperandrsis
rotated/shifted.Thisfieldis5bitslong(6to10).
Funct
Forinstructionsthatshareanopcode,thefunctparametercontainsthenecessarycontrolcodesto
differentiatethedifferentinstructions.6bitslong(0to5).Example:Opcode0x00accessestheALU,
andthefunctselectswhichALUfunctiontouse.

FunctionCodes
ShiftValues

IInstructions
Iinstructionsareusedwhentheinstructionmustoperateonanimmediatevalueandaregistervalue.
Immediatevaluesmaybeamaximumof16bitslong.Largernumbersmaynotbemanipulatedby
immediateinstructions.
Iinstructionsarecalledinthefollowingway:
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OPrd,rs,IMM

Whererdisthedestinationregister,rsisthesourceregister,andIMMistheimmediatevalue.The
immediatevaluecanbeupto16bitslong.Forinstance,theaddiinstructioncanbecalledas:
addi$s1,$s2,100

Wherethevalueof$s2plus100isstoredin$s1.

IFormat
Iinstructionsareconvertedintomachinecodewordsinthefollowingformat:
opcode rs rt IMM
Opcode
The6bitopcodeoftheinstruction.InIinstructions,allmneumonicshaveaonetoone
correspondencewiththeunderlyingopcodes.Thisisbecausethereisnofunctparameterto
differentiateinstructionswithanidenticalopcode.6bits(26to31)
rs,rt
Thesourceanddestinationregisteroperands,respectively.5bitseach(21to25and16to20,
respectively).
IMM
The16bitimmediatevalue.16bits(0to15).Thisvalueisusuallyusedastheoffsetvalueinvarious
instructions,anddependingontheinstruction,maybeexpressedintwo'scomplement.

JInstructions
Jinstructionsareusedwhenajumpneedstobeperformed.TheJinstructionhasthemostspaceforan
immediatevalue,becauseaddressesarelargenumbers.
Jinstructionsarecalledinthefollowingway:
OPLABEL

WhereOPisthemneumonicfortheparticularjumpinstruction,andLABEListhetargetaddresstojump
to.

JFormat
Jinstructionshavethefollowingmachinecodeformat:
Opcode Address
Opcode
The6bitopcodecorrespondingtotheparticularjumpcommand.(26to31).
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Address
A26bitaddressofthedestination.(0to25).

FRInstructions
FRinstructionsaresimilartotheRinstructionsdescribedabove,excepttheyarereservedforusewith
floatingpointnumbers:
Opcode fmt ft fs fd funct

FIInstructions
FIinstructionsaresimilartotheIinstructionsdescribedabove,excepttheyarereservedforusewith
floatingpointnumbers:
Opcode fmt ft Imm

Opcodes
ThefollowingtablecontainsalistingofMIPSinstructionsandthecorrespondingopcodes.Opcodeand
functnumbersarealllistedinhexadecimal.
Mnemonic

Meaning

Type

Opcode

Funct

add

Add

0x00

0x20

addi

AddImmediate

0x08

NA

addiu

AddUnsignedImmediate

0x09

NA

addu

AddUnsigned

0x00

0x21

and

BitwiseAND

0x00

0x24

andi

BitwiseANDImmediate

0x0C

NA

beq

BranchifEqual

0x04

NA

bne

BranchifNotEqual

0x05

NA

div

Divide

0x00

0x1A

divu

UnsignedDivide

0x00

0x1B

JumptoAddress

0x02

NA

jal

JumpandLink

0x03

NA

jr

JumptoAddressinRegister

0x00

0x08

lbu

LoadByteUnsigned

0x24

NA

lhu

LoadHalfwordUnsigned

0x25

NA

lui

LoadUpperImmediate

0x0F

NA

lw

LoadWord

0x23

NA

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mfhi

MovefromHIRegister

0x00

0x10

mflo

MovefromLORegister

0x00

0x12

mfc0

MovefromCoprocessor0

0x10

NA

mult

Multiply

0x00

0x18

multu

UnsignedMultiply

0x00

0x19

nor

BitwiseNOR(NOTOR)

0x00

0x27

xor

BitwiseXOR(ExclusiveOR)

0x00

0x26

or

BitwiseOR

0x00

0x25

ori

BitwiseORImmediate

0x0D

NA

sb

StoreByte

0x28

NA

sh

StoreHalfword

0x29

NA

slt

Setto1ifLessThan

0x00

0x2A

slti

Setto1ifLessThanImmediate

0x0A

NA

sltiu

Setto1ifLessThanUnsignedImmediate I

0x0B

NA

sltu

Setto1ifLessThanUnsigned

0x00

0x2B

sll

LogicalShiftLeft

0x00

0x00

srl

LogicalShiftRight(0extended)

0x00

0x02

sra

ArithmeticShiftRight(signextended)

0x00

0x03

sub

Subtract

0x00

0x22

subu

UnsignedSubtract

0x00

0x23

sw

StoreWord

0x2B

NA

SystemInstructions
ThispageisgoingtodiscusssomeofthemoreadvancedMIPSinstructionsthatmightnotbeusedinevery
dayprogrammingtasks.
Instruction:

syscall

type:

RType

syscallallowsyoutocalluponthebasicsystemfunctions.Tousesyscall,firstset$v0withthecodeofthe
functionyouwanttocall,thenusesyscall.Theexactcodesavailablemaydependonthespecificsystem
used,butthefollowingareexamplesofcommonsytemcalls.
code call

arguments

$a0=integertoprint

printinteger

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printfloat

$f12=floattoprint

printdouble

$f12=floattoprint

printstring

$a0=addressofbeginningofstring

readinteger

integerstoredin$v0

readfloat

floatstoredin$f0

readdouble

doublestoredin$f0

readstring

$a0=pointertobuffer,$a1=lengthof
buffer

stringstoredinbuffer

sbrk(allocatememory
buffer)

$a0=sizeneeded

$v0=addressof
buffer

10

exit

Example:printingthenumber12
li$a0,12;loadsthenumberwewantprinted,12inthiscase,intothefirstargumentregister
li$v0,1;storesthecodefortheprintintegercallinto$v0
syscall;Executessystemcall

Instruction:

break

type:

RType

Instruction:

sync

type:

RType

Instruction:

cache

type:

RType

Instruction:

pref

type:

RType

Pseudoinstructions
TheMIPSinstructionsetisverysmall,sotodomorecomplicatedtasksweneedtoemployassembler
macroscalledpseudoinstructions.

ListofPseudoinstructions
ThefollowingisalistofthestandardMIPSinstructionsthatareimplementedaspseudoinstructions:
blt
bgt
ble
neg
not
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bge
li
la
move
sge
sgt

BranchPseudoinstructions
Branchiflessthan(blt)
Thebltinstructioncompares2registers,treatingthemassignedintegers,andtakesabranchifoneregister
islessthananother.
blt$8,$9,label

translatesto
slt$1,$8,$9
bne$1,$0,label

OtherPseudoinstructions
LoadImmediate(li)
Thelipseudoinstructionloadsanimmediatevalueintoaregister.
li$8,0x3BF20

translatesto
lui$8,0x0003
ori$8,$8,0xBF20

Move(move)
Themovepseudoinstructionmovesthecontentsofoneregisterintoanotherregister.
move$1,$2

translatesto
add$1,$2,$0

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LoadAddress(la)
la$a0,address
translatesto
lui$at,4097(0x1001upper16bitsof$at).
ori$a0,$at,disp

wheretheimmediate(disp)isthenumberofbytesbetweenthefirstdatalocation(always0x10010000)
andtheaddressofthefirstbyteinthestring.

RegisterFile
Registers
MIPShas32generalpurposeregistersandanother32floatingpointregisters.Registersallbeginwitha
dollarsymbol($).Thefloatingpointregistersarenamed$f0,$f1,...,$f31.Thegeneralpurposeregisters
havebothnamesandnumbers,andarelistedbelow.WhenprogramminginMIPSassembly,itisusually
besttousetheregisternames.
Number

Name

Comments

$0

$zero

Alwayszero

$1

$at

Reservedforassembler

$2,$3

$v0,$v1

Firstandsecondreturnvalues,respectively

$4,...,$7

$a0,...,$a3 Firstfourargumentstofunctions

$8,...,$15 $t0,...,$t7 Temporaryregisters

$16,...,$23 $s0,...,$s7 Savedregisters
$24,$25

$t8,$t9

Moretemporaryregisters

$26,$27

$k0,$k1

Reservedforkernel(operatingsystem)

$28

$gp

Globalpointer

$29

$sp

Stackpointer

$30

$fp

Framepointer

$31

$ra

Returnaddress

ZeroRegister
Thezeroregister($zeroor$0)alwayscontainsavalueof0.Itisbuiltintothehardwareandtherefore
cannotbemodified.
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$atRegister
The$at(AssemblerTemporary)registerisusedfortemporaryvalueswithinpseudocommands.Itisnot
preservedacrossfunctioncalls.Forexample,withthe(slt$at,$a0,$s2)command,$atissettooneif$a0is
lessthan$t2,otherwiseitissettozero.

$vRegisters
The$vRegistersareusedforreturningvaluesfromfunctions.Theyarenotpreservedacrossfunctioncalls.

ArgumentRegisters
The$aregistersareusedforpassingargumentstofunctions.Theyarenotpreservedacrossfunctioncalls.

Temporaries
Thetemporaryregistersareusedbytheassemblerorassemblylanguageprogrammertostoreintermediate
values.Theyarenotpreservedacrossfunctioncalls.

SavedTemporaries
SavedTemporaryregistersareusedtostorelongerlastingvalues.Theyarepreservedacrossfunctioncalls.

$kRegisters
ThekregistersarereservedforusebytheOSkernel.

PointerRegisters
GlobalPointer($gp)
StackPointer($sp)Usedtostorethevalueofthestackpointer.
FramePointer($fp)Usedtostorethevalueoftheframepointer.
ReturnAddress($ra)Storesthereturnaddress(thelocationintheprogramthatafunctionneedsto
returnto).
AllPointerRegistersarepreservedaccrossfunctioncalls.

Exceptions
Thispageisgoingtotalkaboutexceptionhandling.Wewillalsotalkaboutwhatexceptionsare,andwhat
causesthem.
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ExceptionControlRegisters
ExceptionCodes
HandlingExceptions

Resources

Resourcesand
Licensing

Wikimedia
Resources
wikipedia:assembler
Programming:C
C++
OperatingSystemDesign
EmbeddedSystems
ReverseEngineering
MicroprocessorDesign
PSPProgrammingthePSPrunsMIPSassemblylanguage.

ExternalResources
ReverseEngineeringforBeginners(includingMIPSassembly)DennisYurichevfreeonlinebook
(http://beginners.re/RE_for_beginnersen.pdf).
AprogrammedIntroductiontoMIPSAssembly
(http://chortle.ccsu.edu/AssemblyTutorial/index.html)
OVPsimVirtualPlatformSimulator(http://www.ovpworld2.org/mips)
ASoftwareMIPSSimulator(http://xavier.perseguers.ch/programmation/mipsassembler.html)
SPIM:MIPSSimulator(http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~larus/spim.html)
PattersonandHennessy,ComputerOrganizationandDesign:TheHardware/SoftwareInterface,3rd
Edition.Elsevier,2005.ISBN1558606941
Paul,RichardP.SPARCArchitecture,AssemblyLanguageProgramming,andC,2ndEdition,
PrenticeHall,2000.ISBN0130255963
http://www.cs.tau.ac.il/~afek/MipsInstructionSetReference.pdf(theMIPS32instructionset)

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Licensing
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FreeDocumentationLicense,Version1.2oranylaterversionpublishedbytheFreeSoftware
FoundationwithnoInvariantSections,noFrontCoverTexts,andnoBackCoverTexts.Acopy
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GNUFreeDocumentationLicense
Version1.3,3November2008Copyright(C)2000,2001,2002,2007,2008FreeSoftwareFoundation,Inc.
<http://fsf.org/>
Everyoneispermittedtocopyanddistributeverbatimcopiesofthislicensedocument,butchangingitis
notallowed.

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designedforfreesoftware.
WehavedesignedthisLicenseinordertouseitformanualsforfreesoftware,becausefreesoftwareneeds
freedocumentation:afreeprogramshouldcomewithmanualsprovidingthesamefreedomsthatthe
softwaredoes.ButthisLicenseisnotlimitedtosoftwaremanualsitcanbeusedforanytextualwork,
regardlessofsubjectmatterorwhetheritispublishedasaprintedbook.WerecommendthisLicense
principallyforworkswhosepurposeisinstructionorreference.

1.APPLICABILITYANDDEFINITIONS
ThisLicenseappliestoanymanualorotherwork,inanymedium,thatcontainsanoticeplacedbythe
copyrightholdersayingitcanbedistributedunderthetermsofthisLicense.Suchanoticegrantsaworld
wide,royaltyfreelicense,unlimitedinduration,tousethatworkundertheconditionsstatedherein.The
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"Document",below,referstoanysuchmanualorwork.Anymemberofthepublicisalicensee,andis
addressedas"you".Youacceptthelicenseifyoucopy,modifyordistributetheworkinawayrequiring
permissionundercopyrightlaw.
A"ModifiedVersion"oftheDocumentmeansanyworkcontainingtheDocumentoraportionofit,either
copiedverbatim,orwithmodificationsand/ortranslatedintoanotherlanguage.
A"SecondarySection"isanamedappendixorafrontmattersectionoftheDocumentthatdeals
exclusivelywiththerelationshipofthepublishersorauthorsoftheDocumenttotheDocument'soverall
subject(ortorelatedmatters)andcontainsnothingthatcouldfalldirectlywithinthatoverallsubject.(Thus,
iftheDocumentisinpartatextbookofmathematics,aSecondarySectionmaynotexplainany
mathematics.)Therelationshipcouldbeamatterofhistoricalconnectionwiththesubjectorwithrelated
matters,oroflegal,commercial,philosophical,ethicalorpoliticalpositionregardingthem.
The"InvariantSections"arecertainSecondarySectionswhosetitlesaredesignated,asbeingthoseof
InvariantSections,inthenoticethatsaysthattheDocumentisreleasedunderthisLicense.Ifasectiondoes
notfittheabovedefinitionofSecondarythenitisnotallowedtobedesignatedasInvariant.TheDocument
maycontainzeroInvariantSections.IftheDocumentdoesnotidentifyanyInvariantSectionsthenthereare
none.
The"CoverTexts"arecertainshortpassagesoftextthatarelisted,asFrontCoverTextsorBackCover
Texts,inthenoticethatsaysthattheDocumentisreleasedunderthisLicense.AFrontCoverTextmaybe
atmost5words,andaBackCoverTextmaybeatmost25words.
A"Transparent"copyoftheDocumentmeansamachinereadablecopy,representedinaformatwhose
specificationisavailabletothegeneralpublic,thatissuitableforrevisingthedocumentstraightforwardly
withgenerictexteditorsor(forimagescomposedofpixels)genericpaintprogramsor(fordrawings)some
widelyavailabledrawingeditor,andthatissuitableforinputtotextformattersorforautomatictranslation
toavarietyofformatssuitableforinputtotextformatters.AcopymadeinanotherwiseTransparentfile
formatwhosemarkup,orabsenceofmarkup,hasbeenarrangedtothwartordiscouragesubsequent
modificationbyreadersisnotTransparent.AnimageformatisnotTransparentifusedforanysubstantial
amountoftext.Acopythatisnot"Transparent"iscalled"Opaque".
ExamplesofsuitableformatsforTransparentcopiesincludeplainASCIIwithoutmarkup,Texinfoinput
format,LaTeXinputformat,SGMLorXMLusingapubliclyavailableDTD,andstandardconforming
simpleHTML,PostScriptorPDFdesignedforhumanmodification.Examplesoftransparentimageformats
includePNG,XCFandJPG.Opaqueformatsincludeproprietaryformatsthatcanbereadandeditedonly
byproprietarywordprocessors,SGMLorXMLforwhichtheDTDand/orprocessingtoolsarenot
generallyavailable,andthemachinegeneratedHTML,PostScriptorPDFproducedbysomeword
processorsforoutputpurposesonly.
The"TitlePage"means,foraprintedbook,thetitlepageitself,plussuchfollowingpagesasareneededto
hold,legibly,thematerialthisLicenserequirestoappearinthetitlepage.Forworksinformatswhichdo
nothaveanytitlepageassuch,"TitlePage"meansthetextnearthemostprominentappearanceofthe
work'stitle,precedingthebeginningofthebodyofthetext.
The"publisher"meansanypersonorentitythatdistributescopiesoftheDocumenttothepublic.

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Asection"EntitledXYZ"meansanamedsubunitoftheDocumentwhosetitleeitherispreciselyXYZor
containsXYZinparenthesesfollowingtextthattranslatesXYZinanotherlanguage.(HereXYZstandsfor
aspecificsectionnamementionedbelow,suchas"Acknowledgements","Dedications","Endorsements",or
"History".)To"PreservetheTitle"ofsuchasectionwhenyoumodifytheDocumentmeansthatitremains
asection"EntitledXYZ"accordingtothisdefinition.
TheDocumentmayincludeWarrantyDisclaimersnexttothenoticewhichstatesthatthisLicenseapplies
totheDocument.TheseWarrantyDisclaimersareconsideredtobeincludedbyreferenceinthisLicense,
butonlyasregardsdisclaimingwarranties:anyotherimplicationthattheseWarrantyDisclaimersmayhave
isvoidandhasnoeffectonthemeaningofthisLicense.

2.VERBATIMCOPYING
YoumaycopyanddistributetheDocumentinanymedium,eithercommerciallyornoncommercially,
providedthatthisLicense,thecopyrightnotices,andthelicensenoticesayingthisLicenseappliestothe
Documentarereproducedinallcopies,andthatyouaddnootherconditionswhatsoevertothoseofthis
License.Youmaynotusetechnicalmeasurestoobstructorcontrolthereadingorfurthercopyingofthe
copiesyoumakeordistribute.However,youmayacceptcompensationinexchangeforcopies.Ifyou
distributealargeenoughnumberofcopiesyoumustalsofollowtheconditionsinsection3.
Youmayalsolendcopies,underthesameconditionsstatedabove,andyoumaypubliclydisplaycopies.

3.COPYINGINQUANTITY
Ifyoupublishprintedcopies(orcopiesinmediathatcommonlyhaveprintedcovers)oftheDocument,
numberingmorethan100,andtheDocument'slicensenoticerequiresCoverTexts,youmustenclosethe
copiesincoversthatcarry,clearlyandlegibly,alltheseCoverTexts:FrontCoverTextsonthefrontcover,
andBackCoverTextsonthebackcover.Bothcoversmustalsoclearlyandlegiblyidentifyyouasthe
publisherofthesecopies.Thefrontcovermustpresentthefulltitlewithallwordsofthetitleequally
prominentandvisible.Youmayaddothermaterialonthecoversinaddition.Copyingwithchangeslimited
tothecovers,aslongastheypreservethetitleoftheDocumentandsatisfytheseconditions,canbetreated
asverbatimcopyinginotherrespects.
Iftherequiredtextsforeithercoveraretoovoluminoustofitlegibly,youshouldputthefirstoneslisted(as
manyasfitreasonably)ontheactualcover,andcontinuetherestontoadjacentpages.
IfyoupublishordistributeOpaquecopiesoftheDocumentnumberingmorethan100,youmusteither
includeamachinereadableTransparentcopyalongwitheachOpaquecopy,orstateinorwitheach
Opaquecopyacomputernetworklocationfromwhichthegeneralnetworkusingpublichasaccessto
downloadusingpublicstandardnetworkprotocolsacompleteTransparentcopyoftheDocument,freeof
addedmaterial.Ifyouusethelatteroption,youmusttakereasonablyprudentsteps,whenyoubegin
distributionofOpaquecopiesinquantity,toensurethatthisTransparentcopywillremainthusaccessibleat
thestatedlocationuntilatleastoneyearafterthelasttimeyoudistributeanOpaquecopy(directlyor
throughyouragentsorretailers)ofthateditiontothepublic.
Itisrequested,butnotrequired,thatyoucontacttheauthorsoftheDocumentwellbeforeredistributingany
largenumberofcopies,togivethemachancetoprovideyouwithanupdatedversionoftheDocument.
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4.MODIFICATIONS
YoumaycopyanddistributeaModifiedVersionoftheDocumentundertheconditionsofsections2and3
above,providedthatyoureleasetheModifiedVersionunderpreciselythisLicense,withtheModified
VersionfillingtheroleoftheDocument,thuslicensingdistributionandmodificationoftheModified
Versiontowhoeverpossessesacopyofit.Inaddition,youmustdothesethingsintheModifiedVersion:
A. UseintheTitlePage(andonthecovers,ifany)atitledistinctfromthatoftheDocument,andfrom
thoseofpreviousversions(whichshould,iftherewereany,belistedintheHistorysectionofthe
Document).Youmayusethesametitleasapreviousversioniftheoriginalpublisherofthatversion
givespermission.
B. ListontheTitlePage,asauthors,oneormorepersonsorentitiesresponsibleforauthorshipofthe
modificationsintheModifiedVersion,togetherwithatleastfiveoftheprincipalauthorsofthe
Document(allofitsprincipalauthors,ifithasfewerthanfive),unlesstheyreleaseyoufromthis
requirement.
C. StateontheTitlepagethenameofthepublisheroftheModifiedVersion,asthepublisher.
D. PreserveallthecopyrightnoticesoftheDocument.
E. Addanappropriatecopyrightnoticeforyourmodificationsadjacenttotheothercopyrightnotices.
F. Include,immediatelyafterthecopyrightnotices,alicensenoticegivingthepublicpermissiontouse
theModifiedVersionunderthetermsofthisLicense,intheformshownintheAddendumbelow.
G. PreserveinthatlicensenoticethefulllistsofInvariantSectionsandrequiredCoverTextsgivenin
theDocument'slicensenotice.
H. IncludeanunalteredcopyofthisLicense.
I. PreservethesectionEntitled"History",PreserveitsTitle,andaddtoitanitemstatingatleastthe
title,year,newauthors,andpublisheroftheModifiedVersionasgivenontheTitlePage.Ifthereis
nosectionEntitled"History"intheDocument,createonestatingthetitle,year,authors,and
publisheroftheDocumentasgivenonitsTitlePage,thenaddanitemdescribingtheModified
Versionasstatedintheprevioussentence.
J. Preservethenetworklocation,ifany,givenintheDocumentforpublicaccesstoaTransparentcopy
oftheDocument,andlikewisethenetworklocationsgivenintheDocumentforpreviousversionsit
wasbasedon.Thesemaybeplacedinthe"History"section.Youmayomitanetworklocationfora
workthatwaspublishedatleastfouryearsbeforetheDocumentitself,oriftheoriginalpublisherof
theversionitreferstogivespermission.
K. ForanysectionEntitled"Acknowledgements"or"Dedications",PreservetheTitleofthesection,and
preserveinthesectionallthesubstanceandtoneofeachofthecontributoracknowledgementsand/or
dedicationsgiventherein.
L. PreservealltheInvariantSectionsoftheDocument,unalteredintheirtextandintheirtitles.Section
numbersortheequivalentarenotconsideredpartofthesectiontitles.
M. DeleteanysectionEntitled"Endorsements".SuchasectionmaynotbeincludedintheModified
version.
N. DonotretitleanyexistingsectiontobeEntitled"Endorsements"ortoconflictintitlewithany
InvariantSection.
O. PreserveanyWarrantyDisclaimers.
IftheModifiedVersionincludesnewfrontmattersectionsorappendicesthatqualifyasSecondary
SectionsandcontainnomaterialcopiedfromtheDocument,youmayatyouroptiondesignatesomeorall
ofthesesectionsasinvariant.Todothis,addtheirtitlestothelistofInvariantSectionsintheModified
Version'slicensenotice.Thesetitlesmustbedistinctfromanyothersectiontitles.

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YoumayaddasectionEntitled"Endorsements",provideditcontainsnothingbutendorsementsofyour
ModifiedVersionbyvariouspartiesforexample,statementsofpeerrevieworthatthetexthasbeen
approvedbyanorganizationastheauthoritativedefinitionofastandard.
YoumayaddapassageofuptofivewordsasaFrontCoverText,andapassageofupto25wordsasa
BackCoverText,totheendofthelistofCoverTextsintheModifiedVersion.OnlyonepassageofFront
CoverTextandoneofBackCoverTextmaybeaddedby(orthrougharrangementsmadeby)anyone
entity.IftheDocumentalreadyincludesacovertextforthesamecover,previouslyaddedbyyouorby
arrangementmadebythesameentityyouareactingonbehalfof,youmaynotaddanotherbutyoumay
replacetheoldone,onexplicitpermissionfromthepreviouspublisherthataddedtheoldone.
Theauthor(s)andpublisher(s)oftheDocumentdonotbythisLicensegivepermissiontousetheirnames
forpublicityforortoassertorimplyendorsementofanyModifiedVersion.

5.COMBININGDOCUMENTS
YoumaycombinetheDocumentwithotherdocumentsreleasedunderthisLicense,underthetermsdefined
insection4aboveformodifiedversions,providedthatyouincludeinthecombinationalloftheInvariant
Sectionsofalloftheoriginaldocuments,unmodified,andlistthemallasInvariantSectionsofyour
combinedworkinitslicensenotice,andthatyoupreservealltheirWarrantyDisclaimers.
ThecombinedworkneedonlycontainonecopyofthisLicense,andmultipleidenticalInvariantSections
maybereplacedwithasinglecopy.IftherearemultipleInvariantSectionswiththesamenamebut
differentcontents,makethetitleofeachsuchsectionuniquebyaddingattheendofit,inparentheses,the
nameoftheoriginalauthororpublisherofthatsectionifknown,orelseauniquenumber.Makethesame
adjustmenttothesectiontitlesinthelistofInvariantSectionsinthelicensenoticeofthecombinedwork.
Inthecombination,youmustcombineanysectionsEntitled"History"inthevariousoriginaldocuments,
formingonesectionEntitled"History"likewisecombineanysectionsEntitled"Acknowledgements",and
anysectionsEntitled"Dedications".YoumustdeleteallsectionsEntitled"Endorsements".

6.COLLECTIONSOFDOCUMENTS
YoumaymakeacollectionconsistingoftheDocumentandotherdocumentsreleasedunderthisLicense,
andreplacetheindividualcopiesofthisLicenseinthevariousdocumentswithasinglecopythatis
includedinthecollection,providedthatyoufollowtherulesofthisLicenseforverbatimcopyingofeachof
thedocumentsinallotherrespects.
Youmayextractasingledocumentfromsuchacollection,anddistributeitindividuallyunderthisLicense,
providedyouinsertacopyofthisLicenseintotheextracteddocument,andfollowthisLicenseinallother
respectsregardingverbatimcopyingofthatdocument.

7.AGGREGATIONWITHINDEPENDENTWORKS
AcompilationoftheDocumentoritsderivativeswithotherseparateandindependentdocumentsorworks,
inoronavolumeofastorageordistributionmedium,iscalledan"aggregate"ifthecopyrightresulting
fromthecompilationisnotusedtolimitthelegalrightsofthecompilation'susersbeyondwhatthe
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individualworkspermit.WhentheDocumentisincludedinanaggregate,thisLicensedoesnotapplytothe
otherworksintheaggregatewhicharenotthemselvesderivativeworksoftheDocument.
IftheCoverTextrequirementofsection3isapplicabletothesecopiesoftheDocument,thenifthe
Documentislessthanonehalfoftheentireaggregate,theDocument'sCoverTextsmaybeplacedon
coversthatbrackettheDocumentwithintheaggregate,ortheelectronicequivalentofcoversifthe
Documentisinelectronicform.Otherwisetheymustappearonprintedcoversthatbracketthewhole
aggregate.

8.TRANSLATION
Translationisconsideredakindofmodification,soyoumaydistributetranslationsoftheDocumentunder
thetermsofsection4.ReplacingInvariantSectionswithtranslationsrequiresspecialpermissionfromtheir
copyrightholders,butyoumayincludetranslationsofsomeorallInvariantSectionsinadditiontothe
originalversionsoftheseInvariantSections.YoumayincludeatranslationofthisLicense,andallthe
licensenoticesintheDocument,andanyWarrantyDisclaimers,providedthatyoualsoincludetheoriginal
EnglishversionofthisLicenseandtheoriginalversionsofthosenoticesanddisclaimers.Incaseofa
disagreementbetweenthetranslationandtheoriginalversionofthisLicenseoranoticeordisclaimer,the
originalversionwillprevail.
IfasectionintheDocumentisEntitled"Acknowledgements","Dedications",or"History",therequirement
(section4)toPreserveitsTitle(section1)willtypicallyrequirechangingtheactualtitle.

9.TERMINATION
Youmaynotcopy,modify,sublicense,ordistributetheDocumentexceptasexpresslyprovidedunderthis
License.Anyattemptotherwisetocopy,modify,sublicense,ordistributeitisvoid,andwillautomatically
terminateyourrightsunderthisLicense.
However,ifyouceaseallviolationofthisLicense,thenyourlicensefromaparticularcopyrightholderis
reinstated(a)provisionally,unlessanduntilthecopyrightholderexplicitlyandfinallyterminatesyour
license,and(b)permanently,ifthecopyrightholderfailstonotifyyouoftheviolationbysomereasonable
meanspriorto60daysafterthecessation.
Moreover,yourlicensefromaparticularcopyrightholderisreinstatedpermanentlyifthecopyrightholder
notifiesyouoftheviolationbysomereasonablemeans,thisisthefirsttimeyouhavereceivednoticeof
violationofthisLicense(foranywork)fromthatcopyrightholder,andyoucuretheviolationpriorto30
daysafteryourreceiptofthenotice.
Terminationofyourrightsunderthissectiondoesnotterminatethelicensesofpartieswhohavereceived
copiesorrightsfromyouunderthisLicense.Ifyourrightshavebeenterminatedandnotpermanently
reinstated,receiptofacopyofsomeorallofthesamematerialdoesnotgiveyouanyrightstouseit.

10.FUTUREREVISIONSOFTHISLICENSE

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TheFreeSoftwareFoundationmaypublishnew,revisedversionsoftheGNUFreeDocumentationLicense
fromtimetotime.Suchnewversionswillbesimilarinspirittothepresentversion,butmaydifferindetail
toaddressnewproblemsorconcerns.Seehttp://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.
EachversionoftheLicenseisgivenadistinguishingversionnumber.IftheDocumentspecifiesthata
particularnumberedversionofthisLicense"oranylaterversion"appliestoit,youhavetheoptionof
followingthetermsandconditionseitherofthatspecifiedversionorofanylaterversionthathasbeen
published(notasadraft)bytheFreeSoftwareFoundation.IftheDocumentdoesnotspecifyaversion
numberofthisLicense,youmaychooseanyversioneverpublished(notasadraft)bytheFreeSoftware
Foundation.IftheDocumentspecifiesthataproxycandecidewhichfutureversionsofthisLicensecanbe
used,thatproxy'spublicstatementofacceptanceofaversionpermanentlyauthorizesyoutochoosethat
versionfortheDocument.

11.RELICENSING
"MassiveMultiauthorCollaborationSite"(or"MMCSite")meansanyWorldWideWebserverthat
publishescopyrightableworksandalsoprovidesprominentfacilitiesforanybodytoeditthoseworks.A
publicwikithatanybodycaneditisanexampleofsuchaserver.A"MassiveMultiauthorCollaboration"
(or"MMC")containedinthesitemeansanysetofcopyrightableworksthuspublishedontheMMCsite.
"CCBYSA"meanstheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlike3.0licensepublishedbyCreative
CommonsCorporation,anotforprofitcorporationwithaprincipalplaceofbusinessinSanFrancisco,
California,aswellasfuturecopyleftversionsofthatlicensepublishedbythatsameorganization.
"Incorporate"meanstopublishorrepublishaDocument,inwholeorinpart,aspartofanotherDocument.
AnMMCis"eligibleforrelicensing"ifitislicensedunderthisLicense,andifallworksthatwerefirst
publishedunderthisLicensesomewhereotherthanthisMMC,andsubsequentlyincorporatedinwholeor
inpartintotheMMC,(1)hadnocovertextsorinvariantsections,and(2)werethusincorporatedpriorto
November1,2008.
TheoperatorofanMMCSitemayrepublishanMMCcontainedinthesiteunderCCBYSAonthesame
siteatanytimebeforeAugust1,2009,providedtheMMCiseligibleforrelicensing.

HowtousethisLicenseforyourdocuments
TousethisLicenseinadocumentyouhavewritten,includeacopyoftheLicenseinthedocumentandput
thefollowingcopyrightandlicensenoticesjustafterthetitlepage:
Copyright(c)YEARYOURNAME.
Permissionisgrantedtocopy,distributeand/ormodifythisdocument
underthetermsoftheGNUFreeDocumentationLicense,Version1.3
oranylaterversionpublishedbytheFreeSoftwareFoundation
withnoInvariantSections,noFrontCoverTexts,andnoBackCoverTexts.
Acopyofthelicenseisincludedinthesectionentitled"GNU
FreeDocumentationLicense".

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IfyouhaveInvariantSections,FrontCoverTextsandBackCoverTexts,replacethe"with...Texts."line
withthis:
withtheInvariantSectionsbeingLISTTHEIRTITLES,withthe
FrontCoverTextsbeingLIST,andwiththeBackCoverTextsbeingLIST.
IfyouhaveInvariantSectionswithoutCoverTexts,orsomeothercombinationofthethree,mergethose
twoalternativestosuitthesituation.
Ifyourdocumentcontainsnontrivialexamplesofprogramcode,werecommendreleasingtheseexamples
inparallelunderyourchoiceoffreesoftwarelicense,suchastheGNUGeneralPublicLicense,topermit
theiruseinfreesoftware.
1. JohnMasheyonRISC/CISC(http://userpages.umbc.edu/~vijay/mashey.on.risc.html)
2. RISCvs.CISC(http://wwwcsfaculty.stanford.edu/~eroberts/courses/soco/projects/2000
01/risc/risccisc/)
3. Patterson,D.A.&Ditzel,D.R.(1980).TheCasefortheReducedInstructionSetComputer.
SIGARCHComputerArchitectureNews,8(6),2533.
4. Clark,D.W.&StreckerW.D.(1980).Commentson'Thecaseforthereducedinstructionset
computer'byPattersonandDitzel.SIGARCHComputerArchitectureNews,8(6),3438.
Retrievedfrom"http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?
title=MIPS_Assembly/Print_Version&oldid=2702191"

Thispagewaslastmodifiedon21September2014,at11:30.
TextisavailableundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionShareAlikeLicense.additionaltermsmay
apply.Byusingthissite,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy.

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