Welcome to the N32 Web page. This page provides information about MIPS N32 Application Binary Interface (ABI), and tells you everything (at least everything we know at this point) you've always wanted to know about N32. You're probably aware already that N32 is a work in progress.
The information below includes the following topics:
The N32 ABI is a minor variation on the high performance 64-bit ABI. All the performance of the hardware is available to the program and existing 32-bit ABI programs are easily ported. Table 1-1 compares the various ABIs.
UX=1 implies 64-bit registers and also indicates that MIPS3 and MIPS4 instructions are legal. N32 uses 64-bit registers but restricts addresses to 32 bits.
The ABI is the set of rules that all binaries must follow in order to run on an SGI system. This includes, for example, object file format, instruction set, data layout, subroutine calling convention, and system call numbers. The ABI is one part of the mechanism that maintains binary compatibility across all SGI platforms.
The new 32-bit ABI takes advantage of the performance-related features and instructions of the newer SGI chips.
To implement N32, SGI provides customers with:
To take advantage of the N32 ABI, our customers must:
The N32 core documentation exists in
the IRIX 6.2 version of the N32 ABI
Handbook:
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