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MISSE - MIPS Instruction Set Simulator Environment

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MISSE is a 32-bit MIPS instruction set simulator and development environment.
At the moment the Linux version of MISSE needs to be run from an ÅA Linux computer, but with the aid of X-tunneling software (like X-Win32, see below) it is also possible to run it remotely on a Windows platform.

Some screenshots of MISSE can be found here.

Current limitations
  • no synthetic instructions allowed (except for the nop instruction). For a list of instructions currently supported look here (page in swedish)
  • no C-style macros
  • no FPU instructions supported yet (but is under development).
  • the delay for load and store instructions is not simulated, so the data is immediately available in the registers and memory resp. The same also applies for multiplication and division
  • the set at, set noat, set reorder, set noreorder directives are not supported
  • no support for #include is yet available. Compilation of code with this directive will only yield a warning, though.
  • only possible to edit one file at a time

    Features that will be included in the future
  • syntax highlight
  • editing multiple files
  • the insertion of Break Points will be possible in order to break the simulation at user-specific locations
  • a graphics window to ease graphics programming. (The size of the window can be arbitrary chosen, but the bit depth is limited to 8 bits, i.e. 256 colours).
  • usage of keyboard and mouse through the above stated window to ease communication between the user and the simulated program.
  • access to a real-time clock
  • visualization of the instruction flow inside the pipe-line
  • undo/redo

    Bugs and limitations under repair
  • MemoryView uses too much resources. The viewing of the memory contents requires 80 times more memory than what is been simulated (this is due to the way in which GTK stores all text in the MemoryView)

    FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

    1. How do I run MISSE from a Linux-computer at ÅA ?

    MISSE is currently under constant development, therefore it is not locally installed on any particular computer.
    Hence, what you have to do is to start MISSE directly from a specific path (alternatively copy it to your own home area).
    Begin by opening a terminal (i.e. xterm or konsole), at this point you already need to be inside X Window System, then type in the following :

    /home/aton7/jkniivil/misse/misse &

    NOTE! It is useful to check whether the directory /home/aton7/jkniivil/misse/ contains files such as misse.2, misse.3 etc. These are newer executables of the MISSE program. This due to the fact that someone was using MISSE while I was supplying a newer executable and thus didn't have the rights to overwrite the original one.

    If you chose to copy MISSE to your home area, please remove the program as soon as you don't need it anymore. This due to the minimum space left on aton.

    2. I have a Linux computer at home, how do I start MISSE there ?

    The easiest way is to use ssh to connect to some of the Linux computers at ÅA (i.e. instlogin.abo.fi or tuxedo.abo.fi).
    Make sure that you have also enabled X-forwarding, i.e. given the -X parameter (capital X) :

        ssh -X -l username instlogin.abo.fi

    Now you only have to start MISSE as described in point 1, assuming that you're inside the graphical environment X Window System.
    Sometimes the command sequence above is not enough. Then you also have to type in the following on your linux computer at home:

        xhost +instlogin.abo.fi

    And after you have re-connected to instlogin.abo.fi (through ssh) also type in :

        setenv DISPLAY homecomputer:0.0

    where homecomputer is the address of your computer at home. Now you should be able to start MISSE with :

        /home/aton7/jkniivil/misse/misse &

    3. I'm using a Windows computer, is it still possible for me to use MISSE ?

    Information regarding how to use MISSE together with X-Win32 from any remote Windows computer, can be found here

    X. I have found a bug in MISSE, what do I do ?

    Information regarding bugs can be sent to me directly through email (jkniivil(at)abo(dot)fi). Just write [MISSE] on the Subject line.

    MIPS is a registered trademark of MIPS Technologies, Inc.             Last updated 12.02.2007