Re: [PATCH] MIPS SDE OS ABI support

["Maciej W. Rozycki" <macro@codesourcery.com>]

On Fri, 19 Dec 2014, Yao Qi wrote:

> > BTW, OOC, I looked around the web for MIPS SDE, and not much
> > comes out.  What is it exactly?
> 
> I don't see much either.  Looks MIPS SDE lite has been discontinued
> <http://forum.imgtec.com/discussion/2794/mips-sde-lite>
> We develop toolchain, which is integrated in MIPS Navigator ICS
> <http://community.imgtec.com/developers/mips/tools/mips-navigator-ics/>.
> Both SDE ELF and Linux toolchain are used in it
> <http://navigatorics.mips.com/2.9.2/GettingStartedGuide-2.9.2.10356.pdf>

 SDE (Software Development Environment) was a bare-metal MIPS toolchain 
developed by a UK company called Algorithmics who, from 1988, provided 
development support for the MIPS platform -- in the form of both hardware, 
such as system controller IP or development boards, as well as software.  
The toolchain comprised GNU toolchain components (Binutils, GCC, 
GDB/Insight) and a proprietary C library including low-level hardware 
support (e.g. to map Posix semantics onto MIPS MT hardware threading 
support or to handle individual development boards), all together defining 
a bare-metal MIPS ABI.

 The toolchain was taken over by MIPS Technologies together with 
Algorithmics in 2002 and maintained by them until the maintenance was 
handed over to CodeSourcery (now Mentor Graphics) in 2007.  The original 
SDE C library was still included in CodeSourcery's Sourcery G++ 4.2 
toolchain for MIPS/ELF, but then it was replaced with a combination of 
Newlib and proprietary hardware support code.  The ABI has been retained 
though and the toolchain has been since maintained by Mentor Graphics.

 Here's programmer's documentation for the last version (6.06.01) of the 
original SDE toolchain released by MIPS Technologies:

<http://web.archive.org/web/20130315203850/http://mips.com/media/files/MD00428%2D2B%2DSDE6X%2DSUM%2D01.17.pdf>

Older stuff can be found in the archive, collected from the original 
Algorithmics web site that used to be there at http://www.algor.co.uk/.  
Their corresponding FTP site is I believe regrettably gone for good.

 The `mips-sde-elf' configuration triplet has been used across the GNU 
toolchain to select the specifics of this ABI.

  Maciej