A small assembler for the MIPS

This is part of the code generator for Standard ML of New Jersey. We generate code in several stages. This is nearly the lowest stage; it is like an assembler. The user can call any function in the MIPSCODER signature. Each one corresponds to an assembler pseudo-instruction. Most correspond to single MIPS instructions. The assembler remembers all the instructions that have been requested, and when codegen is called it generates MIPS code for them.

Some other structure will be able to use the MIPS structure to implement a CMACHINE, which is the abstract machine that ML thinks it is running on. (What really happens is a functor maps some structure implementing MIPSCODER to a different structure implementing CMACHINE.)

Any function using a structure of this signature must avoid touching registers 1 and 31. Those registers are reserved for use by the assembler.

Here is the signature of the assembler, MIPSCODER. It can be extracted from this file by

notangle mipsinstr.nw -Rsignature.
<signature>=
signature MIPSCODER = sig

(* Assembler for the MIPS chip *)

eqtype Label
datatype Register = Reg of int
    (* Registers 1 and 31 are reserved for use by this assembler *)
datatype EA = Direct of Register | Immed of int | Immedlab of Label
                                (* effective address *)

structure M : sig

    (* Emit various constants into the code *)

    val emitstring : string -> unit     (* put a literal string into the
                                           code (null-terminated?) and
                                           extend with nulls to 4-byte 
                                           boundary. Just chars, no 
                                           descriptor or length *)
    exception BadReal of string
    val low_order_offset : int          (* does the low-order word of a 
                                           floating point literal come
                                           first (0) or second (1) *)
    val realconst : string -> unit      (* emit a floating pt literal *)
    val emitlong : int -> unit          (* emit a 4-byte integer literal *)


    (* Label bindings and emissions *)

    val newlabel : unit -> Label        (* new, unbound label *)
    val define : Label -> unit          (* cause the label to be bound to
                                           the code about to be generated *)
    val emitlab : int * Label -> unit   (* L3: emitlab(k,L2) is equivalent to
                                           L3: emitlong(k+L2-L3) *)

    (* Control flow instructions *)

    val slt : Register * EA * Register -> unit
                (* (operand1, operand2, result) *)
                                        (* set less than family *)
    val beq : bool * Register * Register * Label -> unit
                (* (beq or bne, operand1, operand2, branch address) *)
                                        (* branch equal/not equal family *)
    
    val jump : Register -> unit         (* jump register instruction *)

    val slt_double : Register * Register -> unit
                                        (* floating pt set less than *)
    val seq_double : Register * Register -> unit
                                        (* floating pt set equal *)
    val bcop1 : bool * Label -> unit    (* floating pt conditional branch *)


    (* Arithmetic instructions *)
            (* arguments are (operand1, operand2, result) *)

    val add : Register * EA * Register -> unit
    val and' : Register * EA * Register -> unit
    val or : Register * EA * Register -> unit
    val xor : Register * EA * Register -> unit
    val sub : Register * Register * Register -> unit
    val div : Register * Register * Register -> unit
                                        (* first arg is some register
                                           guaranteed to overflow when
                                           added to itself.  Used to
                                           detect divide by zero. *)
    val mult : Register * Register * Register -> unit
    val mfhi : Register -> unit         (* high word of 64-bit multiply *)
    
    (* Floating point arithmetic *)

    val neg_double : Register * Register -> unit
    val mul_double : Register * Register * Register -> unit
    val div_double : Register * Register * Register -> unit
    val add_double : Register * Register * Register -> unit
    val sub_double : Register * Register * Register -> unit

    (* Move pseudo-instruction :  move(src,dest) *)

    val move : EA * Register -> unit

    (* Load and store instructions *)
            (* arguments are (destination, source address, offset) *)
 
    val lbu  : Register * EA * int -> unit (* bytes *)
    val sb  : Register * EA * int -> unit
    val lw  : Register * EA * int -> unit  (* words *)
    val sw  : Register * EA * int -> unit
    val lwc1: Register * EA * int -> unit  (* floating point coprocessor *)
    val swc1: Register * EA * int -> unit
    val lui : Register * int -> unit

    (* Shift instructions *)
            (* arguments are (shamt, operand, result) *)
            (* shamt as Immedlab _ is senseless *)

    val sll : EA * Register * Register -> unit
    val sra : EA * Register * Register -> unit
    

    (* Miscellany *)

    val align : unit -> unit            (* cause next data to be emitted on
                                           a 4-byte boundary *)
    val mark : unit -> unit             (* emit a back pointer, 
                                           also called mark *)

    val comment : string -> unit

  end (* signature of structure M *)

  val codegen : unit->unit

  val codestats : outstream -> unit     (* write statistics on stream *)

end (* signature MIPSCODER *)
Defines codegen, codestats, EA, Label, M, MIPSCODER, Register (links are to index).

The basic strategy of the implementation is to hold on, via the kept pointer, to the list of instructions generated so far. We use instr for the type of an instruction, so kept has type instr list ref.

The instructions will be executed in the following order: the instruction at the head of the !kept is executed last. This enables us to accept calls in the order of execution but add the new instruction(s) to the list in constant time.

We structure the instruction stream a little bit by factoring out the different load and store instructions that can occur: we have load byte, load word, and load to coprocessor (floating point).

<types auxiliary to instr>= (U->)
datatype size = Byte | Word | Floating
Defines size (links are to index).

Here are the instructions that exist. We list them in more or less the order of the MIPSCODER signature.

<definition of instr>= (U->)
<types auxiliary to instr>

datatype instr = 
    STRINGCONST of string               (* constants *)
  | EMITLONG of int

  | DEFINE of Label                     (* labels *)
  | EMITLAB of int * Label

  | SLT of Register * EA * Register     (* control flow *)
  | BEQ of bool * Register * Register * Label
  | JUMP of Register 
  | SLT_D of Register * Register
  | SEQ_D of Register * Register
  | BCOP1 of bool * Label

  | NOP (* no-op for delay slot *)

  | ADD of Register * EA * Register     (* arithmetic *)
  | AND of Register * EA * Register
  | OR  of Register * EA * Register
  | XOR of Register * EA * Register
  | SUB of Register * Register * Register
  | MULT of Register * Register
  | DIV of Register * Register
  | MFLO of Register    (* mflo instruction used with
                           64-bit multiply and divide *)
  | MFHI of Register

  | NEG_D of Register * Register
  | MUL_D of Register * Register * Register
  | DIV_D of Register * Register * Register
  | ADD_D of Register * Register * Register
  | SUB_D of Register * Register * Register

  | MOVE of EA * Register    (* put something into a register *)
  | LDI_32 of int * Register (* load in a big immediate constant (>16 bits) *)
  | LUI of Register * int    (* Mips lui instruction *)

  | LOAD of size * Register * EA * int  (* load and store *)
  | STORE  of size * Register * EA * int

  | SLL of EA * Register * Register     (* shift *)
  | SRA of EA * Register * Register

  | COMMENT of string                   (* generates nothing *)
  | MARK                                (* a backpointer *)

  | BREAK of int                        (* break instruction *)
Defines instr (links are to index).

Here is the code that handles the generated stream, kept. It begins life as nil and returns to nil every time code is generated. The function keep is a convenient way of adding a single instr to the list; it's very terse. Sometimes we have to add multiple instrs; then we use keeplist. We also define a function delay that is just like a keep but it adds a NOP in the delay slot.

<instruction stream and its functions>= (U->)
  val kept = ref nil : instr list ref
  fun keep f a = kept := f a :: !kept
  fun delay f a = kept := NOP :: f a :: !kept
  fun keeplist l = kept := l @ !kept
Defines delay, keep, keeplist, kept (links are to index).

<reinitialize kept>= (U->)
  kept := nil

Exporting functions for MIPSCODER

We now know enough to implement most of the functions called for in MIPSCODER. We still haven't decided on an implementation of labels, and there is one subtlety in multiplication and division, but the rest is set.

<MIPSCODER functions>= (U->)
  val emitstring = keep STRINGCONST     (* literals *)
  exception BadReal = IEEEReal.BadReal
  val low_order_offset = Emitter.low_order_offset
  val realconst = keep (STRINGCONST o order_real o IEEEReal.realconst)
  val emitlong = keep EMITLONG

  <label functions>                   (* labels *)

  val slt = keep SLT                    (* control flow *)
  val beq = delay BEQ
  val jump = delay JUMP
  val slt_double = delay SLT_D
  val seq_double = delay SEQ_D
  val bcop1 = delay BCOP1

  val add = keep ADD                    (* arithmetic *)
  val and' = keep AND
  val or = keep OR
  val xor = keep XOR
  val op sub = keep SUB
  <multiplication and division functions>

  val neg_double = keep NEG_D
  val mul_double = keep MUL_D
  val div_double = keep DIV_D
  val add_double = keep ADD_D
  val sub_double = keep SUB_D

  val move = keep MOVE

  fun lbu (a,b,c) = delay LOAD (Byte,a,b,c) (* load and store *)
  fun lw (a,b,c)  = delay LOAD (Word,a,b,c)
  fun lwc1 (a,b,c)  = delay LOAD (Floating,a,b,c)
  fun sb (a,b,c)  = keep STORE (Byte,a,b,c)
  fun sw (a,b,c)  = keep STORE (Word,a,b,c)
  fun swc1 (a,b,c)  = delay STORE (Floating,a,b,c)
  val lui = keep LUI

  val sll = keep SLL                    (* shift *)
  val sra = keep SRA

  fun align() = ()                      (* never need to align on MIPS *)
  val mark = keep (fn () => MARK)
  val comment = keep COMMENT
Defines add, add_double, align, and', BadReal, bcop1, beq, comment, div_double, emitlong, emitstring, jump, lbu, low_order_offset, lui, lw, lwc1, mark, move, mul_double, neg_double, op, or, realconst, sb, seq_double, sll, slt, slt_double, sra, sub_double, sw, swc1, xor (links are to index).

Multiplication has a minor complication; the result has to be fetched from the LO register.

<multiplication and division functions>= (<-U) [D->]
fun mult (op1, op2, result) = keeplist [MFLO result, MULT (op1, op2)]
val mfhi = keep MFHI
Defines mfhi, mult (links are to index).

Division has a major complication; I must test for divide by zero since the hardware does not. If the divisor is zero, I cause an overflow exception by adding limitreg to itself.

<multiplication and division functions>+= (<-U) [<-D]
fun op div (op1, op2, result) =
  let val next = newlabel()
  in  keeplist [
        MFLO result,                            (* get the result *)
        DEFINE next,                            (* skip to here if nonzero *)
        BREAK 7,                                (* signals zerodivide *)
        DIV (op1, op2),                         (* divide in delay slot *)
        BEQ (false, Reg 0, op2, next)           (* skip if divisor nonzero *)
      ]
  end
Defines op (links are to index).

For now, labels are just pointers to integers. During code generation, those integers will be set to positions in the instruction stream, and then they'll be useful as addresses relative to the program counter pointer (to be held in Reg pcreg).

<definition of Label>= (U->)
  type Label = int ref
Defines Label (links are to index).

<label functions>= (<-U)
  fun newlabel () = ref 0
  val define = keep DEFINE
  val emitlab = keep EMITLAB
Defines define, emitlab, newlabel (links are to index).

Here's the overall plan of this structure:

<*>=
functor MipsCoder(Emitter: EMITTER) : MIPSCODER = struct

  open Emitter
  <definition of Label>

  datatype Register = Reg of int

  datatype EA = Direct of Register
              | Immed of int
              | Immedlab of Label

  <definition of instr>

  <instruction stream and its functions>
  
  structure M = struct
    <MIPSCODER functions>
  end

  open M

  <functions that assemble instrs into code>

  <statistics>

end (* MipsInstr *)
Defines EA, M, MipsCoder, Register (links are to index).

Sizes of instrs

Now let's consider the correspondence between our instr type and the actual MIPS instructions we intend to emit. One important problem to solve is figuring out how big things are, so that we know what addresses to generate for the various labels. We will also want to know what address is currently stored in the program counter regsiter (pcreg), because we'll need to know when something is close enough that we can use a sixteen-bit address relative to that register. The kind of address we can use will determine how big things are.

We'll rearrange the code so that we have a list of ref int * instr pairs, where the ref int stores the position in the list. (Positions start at zero.) Since in the MIPS all instructions are the same size, we measure position as number of instructions. While we're at it, we reverse the list so that the head will execute first, then the rest of the list.

We begin with each position set to zero, and make a pass over the list trying to set the value of each position. We do this by estimating the size of (number of MIPS instructions generated for) each instr. Since there are forward references, we may not have all the distances right the first time, so we have to make a second pass. But during this second pass we could find that something is further away than we thought, and we have to switch from using a pc-relative mode to something else (or maybe grab the new pc?), which changes the size again, and moves things even further away. Because we can't control this process, we just keep making passes over the list until the process quiesces (we get the same size twice).

In order to guarantee termination, we have to make sure later passes only increase the sizes of things. This is sufficient since there is a maximum number of MIPS instructions we can generate for each instr.

While we're at it, we might want to complicate things by making the function that does the passes also emit code. For a single pass we hand an optional triple of emitters, the initial position, an int option for the program counter pointer (if known), and the instructions.

I'm not sure what explains the use of the ref int to track the position, instead of just an int---it might be a desire to avoid the overhead of creating a bunch of new objects, or it might be really hard to do the passes cheaply. It should think a variation on map would do the job, but maybe I'm missing something.

emit : int * int -> unit emits one instruction, and emit_string : int -> string -> unit emits a string constant. emit_string could be specified as a function of emit, but the nature of the function would depend on whether the target machine was little-endian or big-endian, and we don't want to have that dependency built in.

instrs is the list of instructions (in execute-head-last order).

The second argument to pass indicates for what instructions code is to be generated. It is a record (position of next instruction, program counter pointer if any, remaining instructions to generate [with positions]).

prepare produces two results: the instruction stream with size pointers added, and the total size of code to be generated. We add the total size because that is the only way to find the number of bltzals, which are implicit in the instruction stream.

<assembler>= (U->)
fun prepare instrs =
 let fun add_positions(done, inst::rest) =  
                 add_positions( (ref 0, inst) :: done, rest)
       | add_positions(done, nil) = done

     val instrs' = add_positions(nil, instrs) (* reverse and add [[ref int]]s*)

     fun passes(oldsize) = 
                (* make passes with no emission until size is stable*)
        let val size = pass false (0,NONE,instrs')
        in  if size=oldsize then size
            else passes size
        end
  in {size = passes 0, stream = instrs'}
  end

fun assemble instrs =
        pass true (0,NONE,#stream (prepare instrs))

Defines assemble, prepare (links are to index).

<functions that assemble instrs into code>= (<-U)
fun get (SOME x) = x 
  | get NONE = ErrorMsg.impossible "missing pcptr in mipscoder"

<pcptr functions>
<single pass>
<assembler>

fun codegen () = (
    assemble (!kept);
    <reinitialize kept>
    )
Defines codegen, get (links are to index).

The program counter pointer is a device that enables us to to addressing relative to the pcp register, register 31. The need for it arises when we want to access a data element which we know only by its label. The labels give us addresses relative to the beginning of the function, but we can only use addresses relative to some register. The answer is to set register 31 with a bltzal instruction, then use that for addressing.

The function needs_a_pcptr determines when it is necessary to have a known value in register 31. That is, we need the program counter pointer

<pcptr functions>= (<-U)
fun needs_a_pcptr(_,SLT(_,Immedlab _,_)) = true
  | needs_a_pcptr(_,ADD(_,Immedlab _,_)) = true
  | needs_a_pcptr(_,AND(_,Immedlab _,_)) = true
  | needs_a_pcptr(_,OR(_,Immedlab _,_)) = true
  | needs_a_pcptr(_,XOR(_,Immedlab _,_)) = true
  | needs_a_pcptr(_,MOVE(Immedlab _,_)) = true
  | needs_a_pcptr(_,LOAD(_,_,Immedlab _,_)) = true
  | needs_a_pcptr(_,STORE(_,_,Immedlab _,_)) = true
  | needs_a_pcptr(_,SLL(Immedlab _,_,_)) = true
  | needs_a_pcptr(_,SRA(Immedlab _,_,_)) = true
  | needs_a_pcptr(1, BEQ _) = false  (* small BEQ's dont need pcptr *)
  | needs_a_pcptr(_, BEQ _) = true   (* but large ones do *)
  | needs_a_pcptr(1, BCOP1 _) = false  (* small BCOP1's dont need pcptr *)
  | needs_a_pcptr(_, BCOP1 _) = true   (* but large ones do *)
  | needs_a_pcptr _ = false
Defines needs_a_pcptr (links are to index).

Creating the program counter pointer once, with a bltzal, is not enough; we have to invalidate the program counter pointer at every label, since control could arrive at the label from God knows where, and therefore we don't know what the program counter pointer is.

We use the function makepcptr to create a new program counter pointer ``on the fly'' while generating code for other instrs. (I chose not to create a special instr for bltzal, which I could have inserted at appropriate points in the instruction stream.) To try and find an odd bug, I'm adding no-ops after each bltzal. I don't really believe they're necessary.

The function gen, which generates the instructions (or computes their size), takes three arguments. Third: the list of instructions to be generated (paired with pointers to their sizes); first: the position (in words) at which to generate those instructions; second: the current value of the program counter pointer (register 31), if known.

The mutual recursion between gen and makepcptr maintains the program counter pointer. gen invalidates it at labels, and calls makepcptr to create a valid one when necessary (as determined by needs_a_pcptr).

<single pass>= (<-U)
fun pass emit_now =
let fun makepcptr(i,x) = 
         (* may need to emit NOP for delay slot if next instr is branch *)
  let val size = case x of ((_,BEQ _)::rest) => 2 
                         | ((_,BCOP1 _)::rest) => 2 
                         | _ => 1
  in  if emit_now then (emit(Opcodes.bltzal(0,0));
                        if size=2 then emit(Opcodes.add(0,0,0)) else ())
                  else ();
      gen(i+size, SOME (i+2), x)
  end
and gen(i,_,nil) = i
  | gen(i, _, (_,DEFINE lab) :: rest) = (lab := i; gen(i,NONE, rest))
                        (* invalidate the pc pointer at labels *)
  (* may want to do special fiddling with NOPs *)
  | gen(pos, pcptr, x as ((sizeref as ref size, inst) :: rest)) =
       if (pcptr=NONE andalso needs_a_pcptr(size, inst)) then makepcptr(pos,x)
       else if emit_now
            then
                <emit MIPS instructions>
            else
                <compute positions>
in  gen
end

Defines gen, pass (links are to index).

Generating the instructions

Now we need to consider the nitty-gritty details of just what instructions are generated for each instr. In early passes, we'll just need to know how many instructions are required (and that number may change from pass to pass, so it must be recomputed). In the last pass, the sizes are stable (by definition), so we can look at the sizes to see what instructions to generate.

We'll consider the instrs in groups, but first, here's the way we will structure things:

<compute positions>= (<-U)
let <functions for computing sizes>
    val newsize = case inst of
        <cases for sizes to be computed>
in  if newsize > size then sizeref := newsize else ();
    gen(pos+(!sizeref) (* BUGS -- was pos+size*),pcptr,rest)
end
<emit MIPS instructions>= (<-U)
let fun gen1() = gen(pos+size,pcptr,rest) 
                                (* generate the rest of the [[instr]]s *)
    open Bits
    open Opcodes
    <declare reserved registers tempreg and pcreg>
    <functions for emitting instructions>
in  case inst of
    <cases of instructions to be emitted>
end

When we get around to generating code, we may need to use a temporary register. For example, if we want to load into a register an immediate constant that won't fit into 16 bits, we will have to load the high-order part of the constant with lui, then use addi to add then the low-order part. The MIPS assembler has a similar problem, and on page D-2 of the MIPS book we notice that register 1 is reserved for the use of the assembler. So we do the same.

We need to reserve a second register for use in pointing to the program counter. We will use register 31 because the bltzal instruction automatically sets register 31 to the PC.

<declare reserved registers tempreg and pcreg>= (<-U)
val tempreg = 1
val pcreg = 31
Defines pcreg, tempreg (links are to index).

Before showing the code for the actual instructions, we should point out that we have two different ways of emitting a long word. emitlong just splits the bits into two pieces for those cases when it's desirable to put a word into the memory image. split gives something that will load correctly when the high-order piece is loaded into a high-order halfword (using lui), and the low-order piece is sign-extended and then added to the high-order piece. This is the way we load immediate constants of more than sixteen bits. It is also useful for generating load or store instructions with offsets of more than sixteen bits: we lui the hi part and add it to the base regsiter, then use the lo part as an offset.

<functions for emitting instructions>= (<-U) [D->]
fun emitlong i = emit(rshift(i,16), andb(i,65535))
                                (* emit one long word (no sign fiddling) *)
fun split i = let val hi = rshift(i,16) and lo = andb(i,65535)
                     in if lo<32768 then (hi,lo) else (hi+1, lo-65536)
                    end

Defines emitlong, split (links are to index).

We begin implementing instrs by considering those that emit constants. String constants are padded with nulls out to a word boundary. Integer constants are just emitted with emitlong.

<cases for sizes to be computed>= (<-U) [D->]
  STRINGCONST s => Integer.div(String.length(s)+3,4)
| EMITLONG _ => 1
<cases of instructions to be emitted>= (<-U) [D->]
  STRINGCONST s => 
        let val s' = s ^ "\000\000\000\000"
        in  gen1(emit_string (4*size) s')
                                      (* doesn't know Big vs Little-Endian *)
        end
| EMITLONG i => gen1(emitlong i)

Next consider the labels. A DEFINE should never reach this far, and EMITLAB is almost like an EMITLONG.

<cases for sizes to be computed>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| DEFINE _ => ErrorMsg.impossible "generate code for DEFINE in mipscoder"
| EMITLAB _ => 1
<cases of instructions to be emitted>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| DEFINE _ => gen1(ErrorMsg.impossible "generate code for DEFINE in mipscoder")
| EMITLAB(i, ref d) => gen1(emitlong((d-pos)*4+i))

Now we have to start worrying about instructions with EA in them. The real difficulty these things present is that they may have an immediate operand that won't fit in 16 bits. So we'll need to get this large immediate operand into a register, sixteen bits at a time, and then do the operation on the register.

Since all of the arithmetic instructions have this difficulty, and since we can use them to implement the others, we'll start with those and catch up with the control-flow instructions later.

SUB, MULT, DIV, and MFLO all use registers only, so they are easy. The other arithmetic operations get treated exactly the same, so we'll use a function to compute the size. move this to follow the definition of arith?

<cases for sizes to be computed>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| ADD(_, ea, _) => easize ea
| AND(_, ea, _) => easize ea
| OR (_, ea, _) => easize ea
| XOR(_, ea, _) => easize ea
| SUB _ => 1
| DIV (_,_) => 1
| MULT (_,_) => 1 
| MFLO _ => 1
| MFHI _ => 1

Register operations take one instruction. Immediate operations take one instruction for 16 bit constants, and 3 for larger constants (since it costs two instructions to load a big immediate constant into a register). An immediate instruction with Immedlab l means that the operand is intended to be the machine address associated with that label. To compute that address, we need to add 4*(l-pcptr) to the contents of register pcreg (which holds 4*pcptr), put the results in a register, and operate on that register.

This tells us enough to compute the sizes.

<functions for computing sizes>= (<-U) [D->]
fun easize (Direct _) = 1
  | easize (Immed i) = if abs(i)<32768 then 1 else 3
  | easize (Immedlab(ref lab)) = 1 + easize(Immed (4*(lab-(get pcptr))))
Defines easize (links are to index).

As we have seen, to implement any arithmetic operation, we need to know the register form and the sixteen-bit immediate form. We will also want the operator from instr, since we do the large immediate via a recursive call. We'll set up a function, arith, that does the job.

<functions for emitting instructions>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
fun arith (opr, rform, iform) =
   let fun ar (Reg op1, Direct (Reg op2), Reg result) = 
                gen1(emit(rform(result,op1,op2)))
         | ar (Reg op1, Immed op2, Reg result) =
                (case size of
                    1 (* 16 bits *) => gen1(emit(iform(result,op1,op2)))
                  | 3 (* 32 bits *) => 
                     gen(pos,pcptr,
                          (ref 2, LDI_32(op2, Reg tempreg))::
                          (ref 1, opr(Reg op1, Direct(Reg tempreg), Reg result))::
                          rest)
                  | _ => gen(ErrorMsg.impossible 
                                "bad size in arith Immed in mipscoder")
                )
         | ar (Reg op1, Immedlab (ref op2), Reg result) =
                gen(pos, pcptr, 
                      (ref (size-1), 
                            ADD(Reg pcreg,Immed(4*(op2-(get pcptr))), Reg tempreg))::
                      (ref 1, opr(Reg op1, Direct(Reg tempreg), Reg result))::
                      rest)
   in  ar
   end
Defines arith (links are to index).

The generation itself may be a bit anticlimactic. The MIPS has no ``subtract immediate'' instruction, and SUB has a different type than the others, so we emit it directly.

<cases of instructions to be emitted>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| ADD stuff => arith (ADD,add,addi) stuff
| AND stuff => arith (AND,and',andi) stuff
| OR  stuff => arith (OR,or,ori) stuff
| XOR stuff => arith (XOR,xor,xori) stuff
| SUB (Reg op1, Reg op2, Reg result) => gen1(emit(sub(result,op1,op2)))
| DIV (Reg op1, Reg op2) => gen1(emit(div(op1,op2)))
| MULT(Reg op1, Reg op2) => gen1(emit(mult(op1,op2)))
| MFLO(Reg result) => gen1(emit(mflo(result)))
| MFHI(Reg result) => gen1(emit(mfhi(result)))

Floating point arithmetic is pretty easy because we always do it in registers. We also support only one format, double precision.

<cases for sizes to be computed>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| NEG_D _ => 1
| MUL_D _ => 1
| DIV_D _ => 1
| ADD_D _ => 1
| SUB_D _ => 1

When emitting instructions we have to remember the Mips instructions use result on the left, but the MIPSCODER signature requires result on the right.

<cases of instructions to be emitted>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| NEG_D (Reg op1,Reg result) => gen1(emit(neg_fmt(D_fmt,result,op1)))
<functions for emitting instructions>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
fun float3double instruction (Reg op1,Reg op2,Reg result) =
   gen1(emit(instruction(D_fmt,result,op1,op2)))
Defines float3double (links are to index).

<cases of instructions to be emitted>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| MUL_D x => float3double mul_fmt x
| DIV_D x => float3double div_fmt x
| ADD_D x => float3double add_fmt x
| SUB_D x => float3double sub_fmt x


We offer a separate MOVE instruction because of large immediate constants. It is always possible to do move(src,dest) by doing add(Reg 0,src,dest), but the general form add(Reg i, Immed c, dest) takes three instructions when c is a large constant (more than 16 bits). Rather than clutter up the code for add (and or and xor) by trying to recognize register 0, we provide move explicitly.

LDI_32 takes care of the particular case in which we are loading a 32-bit immediate constant into a register. It dates from the bad old days before MOVE, and it might be a good idea to remove it sometime.

<functions for emitting instructions>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
fun domove (Direct (Reg src), Reg dest) = gen1(emit(add(dest,src,0)))
  | domove (Immed src, Reg dest) =
        (case size of
            1 (* 16 bits *) => gen1(emit(addi(dest,0,src)))
          | 2 (* 32 bits *) => 
                        gen(pos,pcptr,(ref 2, LDI_32(src, Reg dest))::rest)
          | _ => gen(ErrorMsg.impossible "bad size in domove Immed in mipscoder")
        )
  | domove (Immedlab (ref src), Reg dest) =
        gen(pos, pcptr, 
              (ref size, 
                    ADD(Reg pcreg,Immed(4*(src-(get pcptr))), Reg dest))::rest)
Defines domove (links are to index).

Notice we use easize and not movesize in the third clause because when we reach this point the treatment of a MOVE is the same as that of an ADD.

<functions for computing sizes>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
fun movesize (Direct _) = 1
  | movesize (Immed i) = if abs(i)<32768 then 1 else 2
  | movesize (Immedlab(ref lab)) = easize(Immed (4*(lab-(get pcptr))))

Defines movesize (links are to index).

<cases for sizes to be computed>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| MOVE (src,_) => movesize src
| LDI_32 _ => 2
| LUI _ => 1
<cases of instructions to be emitted>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| MOVE stuff => domove stuff
| LDI_32 (immedconst, Reg dest) =>
         let val (hi,lo) = split immedconst
         in  gen1(emit(lui(dest,hi));emit(addi(dest,dest,lo)))
         end 
| LUI (Reg dest,immed16) => gen1(emit(lui(dest,immed16)))

Now that we've done arithmetic, we can see how to do control flow without too much trouble. SLT can be treated just like an arithmetic operator. BEQ is simple if the address to which we branch is close enough. Otherwise we use the following sequence for BEQ(Reg op1, Reg op2, ref dest):

        bne op1,op2,L
        ADD (Reg pcreg, Immed (4*(dest-pcptr)), Reg tempreg)
        jr tempreg
     L: ...
Notice we don't have to put a NOP in the delay slot of the bne. We don't need one after the jump unless we needed one after the original BEQ, in which case one will be there. If the branch is taken, we're doing as well as we can. If the branch is not taken, we will have executed an add or lui in the delay slot of the bne, but the results just get thrown away.

<cases for sizes to be computed>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| SLT(_, ea, _) => easize ea
| BEQ(_,_,_,ref dest) => 
        if abs((pos+1)-dest) < 32768 then 1 (* single instruction *)
        else 2+easize (Immed (4*(dest-(get pcptr))))
| JUMP _ => 1
| SLT_D _ => 1
| SEQ_D _ => 1
| BCOP1(_,ref dest) => 
        if abs((pos+1)-dest) < 32768 then 1 (* single instruction *)
        else 2+easize (Immed (4*(dest-(get pcptr))))
| NOP => 1

The implementation is as described, except we use a non-standard nop. There are many Mips instructions that have no effect, and the standard one is the word with all zeroes (sll 0,0,0). We use add, adding 0 to 0 and store the result in 0, because it will be easy to distinguish from a data word that happens to be zero.

<cases of instructions to be emitted>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| SLT stuff => arith (SLT,slt,slti) stuff
| BEQ(b, Reg op1, Reg op2, ref dest) =>
    if size = 1 then 
         gen1(emit((if b then beq else bne)(op1,op2,dest-(pos+1))))
    else gen(pos,pcptr,
                  (ref 1, BEQ(not b, Reg op1, Reg op2, ref(pos+size)))
                  ::(ref (size-2), 
                      ADD(Reg pcreg, Immed(4*(dest-(get pcptr))), Reg tempreg))
                  ::(ref 1, JUMP(Reg tempreg))
                  ::rest)
| JUMP(Reg dest) => gen1(emit(jr(dest)))
| SLT_D (Reg op1, Reg op2) => 
     gen1(emit(c_lt(D_fmt,op1,op2)))
| SEQ_D (Reg op1, Reg op2) => 
     gen1(emit(c_seq(D_fmt,op1,op2)))
| BCOP1(b, ref dest) =>
    let fun bc1f offset = cop1(8,0,offset)
        fun bc1t offset = cop1(8,1,offset)
    in  if size = 1 then 
             gen1(emit((if b then bc1t else bc1f)(dest-(pos+1))))
        else gen(pos,pcptr,
                  (ref 1, BCOP1(not b, ref(pos+size)))
                  ::(ref (size-2), 
                      ADD(Reg pcreg, Immed(4*(dest-(get pcptr))), Reg tempreg))
                  ::(ref 1, JUMP(Reg tempreg))
                  ::rest)
    end
| NOP => gen1(emit(add(0,0,0)))         (* one of the many MIPS no-ops *)

Our next problem is to tackle load and store. The major difficulty is if the offset is too large to fit in sixteen bits; if so, we have to create a new base register. If we have Immedlab, we do it as an offset from pcreg.

<functions for emitting instructions>+= (<-U) [<-D]
fun memop(rform,Reg dest, Direct (Reg base), offset) =
      (case size
       of 1 => gen1(emit(rform(dest,offset,base)))
        | 3 => let val (hi,lo) = split offset
               in  gen1(emit(lui(tempreg,hi));       (* tempreg = hi << 16 *)
                        emit(add(tempreg,base,tempreg));(* tempreg += base *)
                        emit(rform(dest,lo,tempreg)) (* load dest,lo(tempreg) *)
                       )
               end
        | _ => gen1(ErrorMsg.impossible "bad size in memop Direct in mipscoder")
       )
  | memop(rform,Reg dest, Immed address, offset) =
      (case size
       of 1 => gen1(emit(rform(dest,offset+address,0)))
        | 2 => let val (hi,lo) = split (offset+address)
               in  gen1(emit(lui(tempreg,hi)); 
                        emit(rform(dest,lo,tempreg))
                       )
               end
        | _ => gen1(ErrorMsg.impossible "bad size in memop Immed in mipscoder")
       )
  | memop(rform,Reg dest, Immedlab (ref lab), offset) =
      memop(rform, Reg dest, Direct (Reg pcreg), offset+4*(lab - get pcptr))
Defines memop (links are to index).

The actual registers don't matter for computing sizes, and in fact the value of pcreg is not visible here, so we use an arbitrary register (Reg 0) to compute the size.

<functions for computing sizes>+= (<-U) [<-D]
fun adrsize(_, Reg _, Direct _, offset) = 
            if abs(offset)<32768 then 1 else 3
  | adrsize(_, Reg _, Immed address, offset) = 
            if abs(address+offset) < 32768 then 1 else 2
  | adrsize(x, Reg dest, Immedlab (ref lab), offset) =
            adrsize(x, Reg dest, Direct (Reg 0  (* pcreg in code *) ), 
                    offset+4*(lab-(get pcptr)))
Defines adrsize (links are to index).

<cases for sizes to be computed>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| LOAD  x => adrsize x
| STORE x => adrsize x
<cases of instructions to be emitted>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| LOAD  (Byte,dest,address,offset) => memop(lbu,dest,address,offset)
| LOAD  (Word,dest,address,offset) => memop(lw,dest,address,offset)
| LOAD  (Floating,dest,address,offset) => memop(lwc1,dest,address,offset)
| STORE (Byte,dest,address,offset) => memop(sb,dest,address,offset)
| STORE (Word,dest,address,offset) => memop(sw,dest,address,offset)
| STORE (Floating,dest,address,offset) => memop(swc1,dest,address,offset)

For the shift instructions, only register and immediate operands make sense. Immediate operands make sense if and only if they are representable in five bits. If everything is right, these are single instructions.

<cases for sizes to be computed>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| SLL _ => 1  
| SRA _ => 1
<cases of instructions to be emitted>+= (<-U) [<-D->]
| SLL (Immed shamt, Reg op1, Reg result) => gen1(
        if (shamt >= 0 andalso shamt < 32) then emit(sll(result,op1,shamt))
        else ErrorMsg.impossible ("bad sll shamt "
                ^ (Integer.makestring shamt) ^ " in mipscoder"))
| SLL (Direct(Reg shamt), Reg op1, Reg result) => 
        gen1(emit(sllv(result,op1,shamt)))
| SLL (Immedlab _,_,_) => ErrorMsg.impossible "sll shamt is Immedlab in mipscoder"
| SRA (Immed shamt, Reg op1, Reg result) => gen1(
        if (shamt >= 0 andalso shamt < 32) then emit(sra(result,op1,shamt))
        else ErrorMsg.impossible ("bad sra shamt "
                ^ (Integer.makestring shamt) ^ " in mipscoder"))
| SRA (Direct(Reg shamt), Reg op1, Reg result) =>
        gen1(emit(srav(result,op1,shamt)))
| SRA (Immedlab _,_,_) => ErrorMsg.impossible "sra shamt is Immedlab in mipscoder"

Finally, comments are ignored, and marks (backpointers) are written into the instruction stream.

Comments are used by the front end to give diagnostics. In the bad old days we would have had two different MIPSCODERs, one which generated machine code (and ignored comments), and one which wrote out assembly code (and copied comments). Today we have just one, which means the rerouting of comments takes place at a much higher level. Look in cps/mipsglue.nw.

<cases for sizes to be computed>+= (<-U) [<-D]
| COMMENT _ => 0
| MARK => 1                     (* backpointer takes one word *)
| BREAK _ => 1                  (* break instruction *)

Just for the record, here's the description of what a mark (backpointer) is. ``Take the byte address at which the mark resides and add 4, giving the byte address of the object following the mark. (That object is the marked object.) Subtract the byte address of the initial word that marks the start of this instruction stream. Now divide by 4, giving the distance in words between the beginning of the block and the marked object. Take that quantity and shift it left by multiplying by power_tags, and indicate the result is a mark by adding the tag bits tag_backptr into the low order part.'' pos+1 is exactly the required distance in words.

<cases of instructions to be emitted>+= (<-U) [<-D]
| COMMENT _ => gen1()
| MARK => gen1(
    let open System.Tags
    in  emitlong((pos+1) * power_tags + tag_backptr)
    end)
| BREAK n => gen1(
    if n < 0 orelse n > 32 then ErrorMsg.impossible "bad break code"
    else emit(break n))

Optimization

The first step towards optimization is to take statistics. We will count: instrs, Mips words, NOPs in load and branch delays, and bltzals. In the current implementation the bltzals are implicit, so there is no way to count them or optimize them.

<statistics>= (<-U) [D->]
fun printstats stream
 {inst : int, code : int, data : int, 
  load : int, branch : int, compare : int, size : int} =
    let val print = output stream
        val nop = load+branch+compare
        val bltzal = size - (code + data)
        val code = code + bltzal
        <definition of sprintf>
        fun P x = substring(makestring(100.0 * x),0,4)  (* percent *)
        fun printf f d = print (sprintf f d)
    in  printf ["Counted "," instrs in "," words (",
                                " code, "," data)\n" ^
                "Used "," NOPs ("," load, "," branch,"," compare) and "," bltzals\n" ^
                "","% of code words were NOPs; ","% were bltzals\n" ^
                "","% of all words were code; ","% of all words were NOPs\n"]
               [I inst, I size, I code, I data, 
                I nop, I load, I branch,  I compare, I bltzal,
                P (real nop / real code), P (real bltzal / real code),
                P (real code / real size), P (real nop / real size)]
        handle Overflow => print "[Overflow in computing Mips stats]\n"
    end
                
Defines printstats (links are to index).

<statistics>+= (<-U) [<-D]
<definition of iscode>
fun addstats (counts as {inst,code,data,load,branch,compare}) =
  fn nil => counts
   | (sizeref,first)::(_,NOP)::rest => addstats
          {inst=inst+2, code=code+(!sizeref)+1, data=data,
           load=load+ (case first of LOAD _ => 1 | _ => 0),
           branch=branch +(case first of BEQ _ => 1 | JUMP _ => 1 
                                       | BCOP1 _ => 1 | _ => 0),
           compare=compare+(case first of SLT_D _ => 1 | SEQ_D _ => 1 
                                        | _ => 0)
          } rest
   | (sizeref,first)::rest => addstats
          {inst=inst+1, 
           code = code + if iscode(first) then !sizeref else 0,
           data = data + if not (iscode first) then !sizeref else 0,
           load=load,
           branch=branch,
           compare=compare
          } rest


fun codestats outfile =
    let val {size,stream=instrs} = prepare (!kept)
        val zero = {inst=0, code=0, data=0, load=0, branch=0, compare=0}
        val counts as {inst,code,data,load,branch,compare} = 
                                                addstats zero instrs
    in  printstats outfile 
            {inst=inst,code=code,data=data,
             load=load,branch=branch,compare=compare,size=size}
    end
        
Defines addstats, codestats (links are to index).

<definition of iscode>= (<-U)
val iscode = fn
    STRINGCONST _ => false
  | EMITLONG _ => false
  | DEFINE _ => false
  | EMITLAB _ => false

  | SLT _ => true
  | BEQ _ => true
  | JUMP _ => true
  | NOP => true
  | SLT_D _ => true
  | SEQ_D _ => true
  | BCOP1 _ => true

  | ADD _ => true
  | AND _ => true
  | OR  _ => true
  | XOR _ => true
  | SUB _ => true
  | MULT _ => true
  | DIV _ => true
  | MFLO _ => true
  | MFHI _ => true

  | NEG_D _ => true
  | MUL_D _ => true
  | DIV_D _ => true
  | ADD_D _ => true
  | SUB_D _ => true

  | MOVE _ => true
  | LDI_32 _ => true
  | LUI _ => true

  | LOAD _ => true
  | STORE  _ => true

  | SLL _ => true
  | SRA _ => true

  | COMMENT _ => false
  | MARK => false
  | BREAK _ => true

Defines iscode (links are to index).

<definition of sprintf>= (<-U)
val I = Integer.makestring
val R = Real.makestring
exception Printf
fun sprintf format values =
    let fun merge([x],nil) = [x]
          | merge(nil,nil) = nil
          | merge(x::y,z::w) = x::z:: merge(y,w)
          | merge _ = raise Printf
    in  implode(merge(format,values))
    end

Defines I, Printf, R, sprintf (links are to index).

At the moment these functions are meaningless junk.

<functions that remove pipeline bubbles>=
val rec squeeze =

 fn (x as LOAD(_,Reg d, m, i))::NOP::instr::rest =>
        if use(instr,d) then ??
        else squeeze(x::instr::rest)
  | (x as STORE _)::(y as LOAD _)::rest => 
        x :: squeeze(y::rest)
  | instr::(x as LOAD(_,Reg d, Direct(Reg s), i))::NOP::rest =>
        if use(instr, d) orelse gen(instr, s) then ??
        else squeeze(x::instr::rest)
  | instr::(x as LOAD(_,Reg d, _, i))::NOP::rest =>
        if use(instr,d) then ??
        else squeeze(x::instr::rest)
  | (x as MFLO _):: (y as MULDIV _) :: rest =>
        x :: squeeze (y::rest)
  | (x as MFLO(Reg d))::instr::rest =>
        if (use(instr,d) orelse gen(instr,d) then ??
        else squeeze(instr::x::rest)
  | instr :: (x as MULDIV(Reg a, Reg b)) :: rest =>
        if gen(instr,a) orelse gen(instr,b) then ??
        else squeeze(x::instr::rest)

val rec final =
 fn
  | instr::(x as LOAD(_,Reg d, Direct(Reg s), i))::NOP::rest =>
        if gen(instr, s) then instr::final(x::NOP::rest)
        else x::instr::(final rest)
  | instr :: (x as JUMP _) :: NOP :: rest =>
        x :: instr :: final rest
  | instr :: (x as BEQ(_,Reg a, Reg b, _)) :: NOP :: rest =>
        if gen(instr,a) orelse gen(instr,b) then instr::x::NOP::(final rest)
        else x::instr::(final rest)
Defines rec (links are to index).

Indices

Chunks

Identifiers