Lab 05: Intro to MIPS

Lab 05: Intro to MIPS
CSE-031-01

Overview
In this lab, we will get ourselves familiar with the programming environment we will use for MIPS
programming.
Getting Started
Before we begin any activities, create a directory (Lab_5) inside the CSE31 directory we created in the first
lab. You will save all your work from this lab here. Note that all the files shown in green below are the
ones you will be submitting for this assignment.
You must have a clear idea of how to answer the lab activities before leaving lab to receive
participation score.
What is MARS?
Since we cannot manipulate the CPU inside our computers directly (none of us use MIPS CPU, and for
security reasons), we need a software to simulate a MIPS CPU for us. The simulator we are using is called
MARS.
TPS (Think-Pair-Share) activity 1: Discuss questions 1 – 4 (25 minutes) while paired with your classmates
assigned by your TA (you will be assigned to groups of 3-4 students) and record your answers in a text file
named tpsAnswers.txt under a section labelled “TPS 1” (you will continue to use this file to record
your answers to all the TPS questions that follow in the lab handout):
1. Before we use a new tool, we will need to find out how to use it. MARS DOES NOT mean that MIPS
is an alien language (well, sort of). Work with your partner and find out what MARS stands for.
2. Since you have found out what MARS stands for, you probably have found out the webpage of MARS
as well. Visit the download page and download MARS in your computer. To run MARS, just doubleclick the downloaded jar file. You will need Java to run it. Note: MARS is not pre-installed in the lab
computers, so you need to download it if you are using a lab computer. But before running the jar file
you will have to mark the file as user-executable. To do this, navigate to the folder where you have
downloaded the jar file and run the command chmod u+x Mars4_5.jar. After this, you may
double-click the jar file to run it.
3. From the Tutorial materials page (you can find the link to it from the home page), save both tutorial
materials (MARS feature map and MARS tutorial) as well as Fibonacci.asm in your Lab_5 folder.
4. Follow Part 1 : Basic MARS Use in the tutorial using Fibonacci.asm and discuss the following
questions:
a. How do you load an assembly file?
b. How do you assemble (compile) the program?
c. How do you run the assembled program?
d. Can you run a program before assembling it?
e. If you want to run the assembled program line by line, how to do it?
f. How do you run the program again after it has finished running?
A simpler Fibonacci
The sample program from the tutorial looks too complicated. Let us use a simpler version of it. Load
fib.s (yes, you can save your assembly programs as .s files instead) into MARS and assemble the code.
Note that Fibonacci number calculation is as follows:
fib[0] = 0;
fib[1] = 1;
Lab 05: Intro to MIPS
CSE-031-01 Points: 20
fib[n] = fib[n-1] + fib[n-2];
TPS activity 2: Discuss questions 1 – 8 (25 minutes) with your TPS partners in your assigned group and
record your answers in tpsAnswers.txt under a section labelled “TPS 2”:
1. What do the .data, .word, .text directives mean (i.e., what do you put in each section)?
2. What does line 10 do?
3. What does line 15 do?
4. How do you set a breakpoint in MARS? Set breakpoint on line 15 and list the steps of achieving this.
5. After your program stops because of a breakpoint, how do you continue to execute your code? How do
you step through your code?
6. How can you find out the content of a register? How do you modify the value of a register manually
while running the program?
7. At what address is n stored in memory? Calculate the 13th fib number by modifying this memory
location.
8. Line 19 and 21 use the syscall instruction. What is it and how do you use it?
Your TA will “invite” one of you randomly after the activity to share what you have discussed.
Individual Assignment 1: Create myFirstMIPS.s
Write a new piece of MIPS code that, given a value in $s0, assign the following to the various $tX registers:
$t0 = $s0
$t1 = $t0 - 1
$t2 = $t1 - 2
$t3 = $t2 - 3
...
$t7 = $t6 - 7
In other words, for each register from $t1 to $t7, you program should store the difference of the previous
$tX register value and an incremental constant. The $s0 register contains the initial value. Do not set the
value of $s0 in your code. Instead, learn how to set it manually with MARS (Hint: question 6 in TPS 2).
Save your code as myFirstMIPS.s.
Collaboration
You must credit anyone you worked with in any of the following three different ways:
1. Given help to
2. Gotten help from
3. Collaborated with and worked together
What to hand in
When you are done with this lab assignment, submit all your work through CatCourses.
Before you submit, make sure you have done the following:
• Attached myFirstMIPS.s and tpsAnswers.txt.
• Filled in your collaborator’s name (if any) in the “Comments…” textbox at the submission page.
Also, remember to demonstrate your code to the TA or instructor before the end of the grace period.