Hi,
I'm a software engineer with a particular interest in compilers and emulators. I'm reaching out in the hopes that you might be able to help me locate some historical documentation.
I'm aware that MIPS has shifted its focus to RISC-V nowadays. That said, in the interest of preservation, emulation, and just plain old tech enthusiasm, I'm attempting to collect relevant architecture documentation on your past designs - namely, MIPS and Meta. I would be deeply grateful if you could assist my efforts. 🙂
Internet archaeology has so far led me to the following documents:
MIPS32/microMIPS32:
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume I-A: Introduction to the MIPS32 Architecture (MD00082, 6.01, August 20, 2014)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume I-B: Introduction to the microMIPS32 Architecture (MD00741, 6.00, November 8, 2015)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume II-A: The MIPS32 Instruction Set Manual (MD00086, 6.06, December 15, 2016)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume II-B: microMIPS32 Instruction Set (MD00582, 6.05, December 15, 2016)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume III: MIPS32 / microMIPS32 Privileged Resource Architecture (MD00090, 6.02, July 10, 2015)
* MIPS32 Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-a: The MIPS16e Application-Specific Extension to the MIPS32 Architecture (MD00076, 2.63, July 16, 2013)
* MIPS32 Architecture for Programmers: MIPS16e2 Application-Specific Extension Technical Reference Manual (MD01172, 1.00, April 26, 2016)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-e: MIPS DSP Module for MIPS32 Architecture (MD00374, 3.01, December 15, 2014)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-e: MIPS DSP Module for microMIPS32 Architecture (MD00764, 3.01, December 15, 2014)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-f: The MIPS MT Module for the MIPS32 Architecture (MD00378, 1.12, July 16, 2013)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-f: The MIPS MT Module for the microMIPS32 Architecture (MD00768, 1.12, July 16, 2013)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-h: The MCU Application-Specific Extension to the MIPS32 Architecture (MD00834, 1.03, September 9, 2013)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-h: The MCU Application-Specific Extension to the microMIPS32 Architecture (MD00838, 1.03, September 9, 2013)
* MIPS32 Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-i: Virtualization Module of the MIPS32 Architecture (MD00846, 1.06, December 10, 2013)
* microMIPS32 Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-i: Virtualization Module of the microMIPS32 Architecture (MD00848, 1.06, December 10, 2013)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-j: The MIPS32 SIMD Architecture Module (MD00866, 1.12, February 3, 2016)
MIPS64/microMIPS64:
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume I-A: Introduction to the MIPS64 Architecture (MD00083, 6.01, August 20, 2014)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume I-B: Introduction to the microMIPS64 Architecture (MD00743, 5.03, September 9, 2013)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume II-A: The MIPS64 Instruction Set Reference Manual (MD00087, 6.06, December 15, 2016)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume II-B: microMIPS64 Instruction Set (MD00594, 6.05, December 15, 2016)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume III: MIPS64 / microMIPS64 Privileged Resource Architecture (MD00091, 6.03, December 22, 2015)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-c: The MIPS-3D Application-Specific Extension to the MIPS64 Architecture (MD00099, 2.61, April 26, 2010)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-d: The SmartMIPS Application-Specific Extension to the MIPS32 Architecture (MD00101, 3.01, December 16, 2012)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-e: MIPS DSP Module for MIPS64 Architecture (MD00375, 3.02, March 30, 2015)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-e: MIPS DSP Module for microMIPS64 Architecture (MD00765, 3.02, March 30, 2015)
* MIPS64 Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-i: Virtualization Module of the MIPS64 Architecture (MD00847, 1.06, December 10, 2013)
* microMIPS64 Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-i: Virtualization Module of the microMIPS64 Architecture (MD00849, 1.06, December 10, 2013)
* MIPS Architecture for Programmers Volume IV-j: The MIPS64 SIMD Architecture Module (MD00868, 1.12, February 3, 2016)
nanoMIPS:
* MIPS Architecture Base: 32-bit Privileged Resource Architecture Technical Reference Manual (6.09, April 27, 2018)
* MIPS Architecture Base: nanoMIPS32 Instruction Set Technical Reference Manual (1.01, April 27, 2018)
* MIPS Architecture Extension: nanoMIPS32 DSP Technical Reference Manual (0.04, April 27, 2018)
* MIPS Architecture Extension: nanoMIPS32 Multithreading Technical Reference Manual (1.17, April 27, 2018)
Would you be able to confirm whether these are the latest versions to exist?
Additionally, I seem to be missing some documents:
MIPS32/microMIPS32:
* Volume IV-b: MDMX for MIPS32/microMIPS32
* Volume IV-c: MIPS-3D for MIPS32
MIPS64/microMIPS64:
* Volume IV-a: MIPS16e for MIPS64
* Volume IV-b: MDMX for MIPS64/microMIPS64
* Volume IV-f: MT for MIPS64
* Volume IV-f: MT for microMIPS64
* Volume IV-h: MCU for MIPS64
* Volume IV-h: MCU for microMIPS64
I don't suppose you have these lying around? 🙂
Finally, for Meta, I have unfortunately not been able to find an architecture manual of any kind online. Was one ever published?
At the end of all this, I'm planning to publish my collection of spec documents for MIPS and various other ISAs on a GitHub repo for archival and preservation purposes.
Thank you in advance!
Regards,
Alex
Sent this email to MIPS today: