MIPS I-IV instruction set standards

On Tue, 28 Feb 2017, Angelo Papenhoff via cctech wrote: A differently formatted copy of the same document used to be available at <http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/manuals/2000/007-2597-001/pdf/007-2597-001.pdf> though `techpubs.sgi.com' has been recently taken offline I'm told (and I haven't checked if `archive.org' has a copy). In either version of the document you can see how the ISA has progressed in the opcode tables towards the end of each appendix; this might be the best original ISA reference readily available. As to the earlier ISA levels I believe their definitions were only buried as parts of the respective MIPSCO processor manuals, i.e. the R2000/R3000, the R6000 and the R4000/R4400. The latter is available online in several places; originally at <http://www.mips.com/Documentation/R4400_Uman_book_Ed2.pdf> and <http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/manuals/2000/007-2489-001/pdf/007-2489-001.pdf>. The final version of the R6000 manual may not have been made. A very early revision was found and has been scanned and published at <ftp://ftp.linux-mips.org/pub/mips/docs/r6000/> as tarballs of TIFF images (I have made a PDF conversion and placed the result at <ftp://ftp.linux-mips.org/pub/linux/mips/people/macro/MIPS/>). It is inaccurate and lacks opcode encodings. I have seen a copy of the original R2000 manual once, in the form of a collection of pages in a ring binder. That copy may have been lost since. Silicon manufacturers like IDT, LSI Logic, Performance Semiconductor or Siemens published their R2000/R3000 (and R2010/R3010 FPA) implementation manuals though that may serve as a reference; you should be able to track down scanned copies online. HTH, Maciej