Week 9 - The MIPS Processor

Question 1

1. ) What Chip Architecture Is Used By The MIPS Processor?
2. ) How Many Co-Processors Does The MIPS Processor Have?
3. ) What Is The Function Of Each Co-Processor

Answer 1

1. ) RISC
2. ) Four.
3. )

COP0 - System Control.
COP1 - Floating Point.
COP 3, COP4 - Additional, Optional Co-Processors)

Question 2

1. ) What Type Of Input Does The MIPS Processor Process In Order To Perform Operations?
2. ) The Above Input Is Made Up Of Patterns. Which Fundamental Unit Is Used To Form These Patterns?

Answer 2

1. ) Machine Code.

2. ) Bits.

Question 3

In The MIPS Processor, How Many Bits Make Up The Memory Address And Machine Instructions?

Answer 3

32 Bits

Or 64 in the 64x Architecture

Question 4

1.) Machine Code Is Difficult To Read And Implement At A Glance. Which Input Do Most Programmers Mostly Use When Interacting With The MIPS Processor Directly?

Answer 4

1.) Assembly Language.

Question 5

1. ) How Many Assembly Language Instructions Correspond To A Single Machine Code Instruction?
   2) Which Program Is Used To Convert Assembly Code Into Machine Code?

Answer 5

1. ) One (Though, In Some Cases, Two Can Correspond To A Machine Instruction).
2. ) An Assembler Program.

Question 6

What Does The Following Assembly Statement Represent?

addu $10, $8, $9

Answer 6

Add the Values of Registers 8 and 9 Together.

Store the Result in Register 10.

Question 7

1. ) In The MIPS32 Architecture, What Can Memory Be Thought As?
2. ) A Certain Portion Of This Memory Is Reserved, What Is It Reserved For, And How Much Is Left Over For The System To Use?

Answer 7

1.) A 32-Bit Array. (The Maximum Length A Memory Address Can Be Is 2^32, So You Can Have A Total Of 2^32 Sections To Store A Byte of Data)

2.)
A Certain Portion Is Reserved For The OS and Specialised Purposes.

Once The Reserved Section Is Taken Into Consideration, There Remains About 2^31 Bytes Of Memory.

Question 8

The Memory Layout Is Made Up Of Several Sections. List All Of The Sections (Excluding the Reserved Section) And Explain Their Purpose Within The MIPS Processor.

Answer 8

Text Section - Contains The Machine Code Instructions Used By MIPS Program’s. (Lowest Address Spaces)

Data Section - Stores The Data That A MIPS Program Operates On.

Stack Section - Stores The Values Used By Local Variables And Parameters. By Using Assembly Language, Data Can Be Pushed On Then Popped Off. (Highest Address Spaces).

Question 9

1. ) How Many Bits Can Each Register Store In A MIPS Microprocessor?
2. ) How Many General Purpose Registers Are Visible To Assembly Language In The MIPS Microprocessor? What Is The Range Of Their Register Values?
3. ) How Many General Purpose Registers Are Visible To Assembly Language In The Floating Point Co-Processor?

Answer 9

1. ) 32 Bits
2. ) 32 - Numbered $0 - $31
3. 32.

Question 10

Registers In A MIPS Microprocessor Use Two Main Instructions To Move Data Between The CPU And Memory.

1. ) Identify How Many Bytes Each Function Can Move.
2. ) Identify And Explain Both Instructions.

Answer 10

1. 1, 2 Or 4 Bytes Can Be Moved. 4 Bytes Will Normally Be Moved (4 x 8 Bits = 32 Bits = 1 Word)

2.

Load - 1, 2 Or 4 Bytes (Usually 4) Are Copied From Memory And Are Moved INTO A Register Inside The CPU.

Store - 1, 2 Or 4 Bytes (Usually 4) Are Copied From The Registers And Are Moved FROM The Processor To A Designated Memory Address.

Question 11

1. ) Which Special Register Points To The Next Instruction To Be Executed?
2. ) What Value Does This Register Store?
3. ) How Many Bytes Is The Register Incremented By? Why?

Answer 11

1. ) The Program Counter.
2. ) The Memory Address Of The Next Instruction To Be Executed.
3. ) 4 Bytes. Because a Byte is 8 Bits, And 4 x 8 is 32 Bits Which is the Maximum Word Length The MIPS Processor Can Operate On. This Means Each Instruction Is 32 Bits (4 Bytes).