2004-08-31 Robert Bowdidge <bowdidge@apple.com>

[binutils.git] / gas / doc / c-xtensa.texi

@c Copyright (C) 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c This is part of the GAS manual.
@c For copying conditions, see the file as.texinfo.
@c
@ifset GENERIC
@page
@node Xtensa-Dependent
@chapter Xtensa Dependent Features
@end ifset
@ifclear GENERIC
@node Machine Dependencies
@chapter Xtensa Dependent Features
@end ifclear

@cindex Xtensa architecture
This chapter covers features of the @sc{gnu} assembler that are specific
to the Xtensa architecture.  For details about the Xtensa instruction
set, please consult the @cite{Xtensa Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)
Reference Manual}.

@menu
* Xtensa Options::              Command-line Options.
* Xtensa Syntax::               Assembler Syntax for Xtensa Processors.
* Xtensa Optimizations::        Assembler Optimizations.
* Xtensa Relaxation::           Other Automatic Transformations.
* Xtensa Directives::           Directives for Xtensa Processors.
@end menu

@node Xtensa Options
@section Command Line Options

The Xtensa version of the @sc{gnu} assembler supports these
special options:

@table @code
@item --density | --no-density
@kindex --density
@kindex --no-density
@cindex Xtensa density option
@cindex density option, Xtensa
Enable or disable use of the Xtensa code density option (16-bit
instructions).  @xref{Density Instructions, ,Using Density
Instructions}.  If the processor is configured with the density option,
this is enabled by default; otherwise, it is always disabled.

@item --relax | --no-relax
@kindex --relax
@kindex --no-relax
Enable or disable relaxation of instructions with immediate operands
that are outside the legal range for the instructions.  @xref{Xtensa
Relaxation, ,Xtensa Relaxation}.  The default is @samp{--relax} and this
default should almost always be used.  If relaxation is disabled with
@samp{--no-relax}, instruction operands that are out of range will cause
errors.  Note: In the current implementation, these options also control
whether assembler optimizations are performed, making these options
equivalent to @samp{--generics} and @samp{--no-generics}.

@item --generics | --no-generics
@kindex --generics
@kindex --no-generics
Enable or disable all assembler transformations of Xtensa instructions,
including both relaxation and optimization.  The default is
@samp{--generics}; @samp{--no-generics} should only be used in the rare
cases when the instructions must be exactly as specified in the assembly
source.
@c The @samp{--no-generics} option is like @samp{--no-relax}
@c except that it also disables assembler optimizations (@pxref{Xtensa
@c Optimizations}).
As with @samp{--no-relax}, using @samp{--no-generics}
causes out of range instruction operands to be errors.

@item --text-section-literals | --no-text-section-literals
@kindex --text-section-literals
@kindex --no-text-section-literals
Control the treatment of literal pools.  The default is
@samp{--no-@-text-@-section-@-literals}, which places literals in a
separate section in the output file.  This allows the literal pool to be
placed in a data RAM/ROM, and it also allows the linker to combine literal
pools from separate object files to remove redundant literals and
improve code size.  With @samp{--text-@-section-@-literals}, the
literals are interspersed in the text section in order to keep them as
close as possible to their references.  This may be necessary for large
assembly files.

@item --target-align | --no-target-align
@kindex --target-align
@kindex --no-target-align
Enable or disable automatic alignment to reduce branch penalties at some
expense in code size.  @xref{Xtensa Automatic Alignment, ,Automatic
Instruction Alignment}.  This optimization is enabled by default.  Note
that the assembler will always align instructions like @code{LOOP} that
have fixed alignment requirements.

@item --longcalls | --no-longcalls
@kindex --longcalls
@kindex --no-longcalls
Enable or disable transformation of call instructions to allow calls
across a greater range of addresses.  @xref{Xtensa Call Relaxation,
,Function Call Relaxation}.  This option should be used when call
targets can potentially be out of range, but it degrades both code size
and performance.  The default is @samp{--no-@-longcalls}.
@end table

@node Xtensa Syntax
@section Assembler Syntax
@cindex syntax, Xtensa assembler
@cindex Xtensa assembler syntax

Block comments are delimited by @samp{/*} and @samp{*/}.  End of line
comments may be introduced with either @samp{#} or @samp{//}.

Instructions consist of a leading opcode or macro name followed by
whitespace and an optional comma-separated list of operands:

@smallexample
@var{opcode} [@var{operand},@dots{}]
@end smallexample

Instructions must be separated by a newline or semicolon.

@menu
* Xtensa Opcodes::              Opcode Naming Conventions.
* Xtensa Registers::            Register Naming.
@end menu

@node Xtensa Opcodes
@subsection Opcode Names
@cindex Xtensa opcode names
@cindex opcode names, Xtenxa

See the @cite{Xtensa Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) Reference
Manual} for a complete list of opcodes and descriptions of their
semantics.

@cindex generic opcodes
@cindex specific opcodes
@cindex _ opcode prefix
The Xtensa assembler distinguishes between @dfn{generic} and
@dfn{specific} opcodes.  Specific opcodes correspond directly to Xtensa
machine instructions.  Prefixing an opcode with an underscore character
(@samp{_}) identifies it as a specific opcode.  Opcodes without a
leading underscore are generic, which means the assembler is required to
preserve their semantics but may not translate them directly to the
specific opcodes with the same names.  Instead, the assembler may
optimize a generic opcode and select a better instruction to use in its
place (@pxref{Xtensa Optimizations, ,Xtensa Optimizations}), or the
assembler may relax the instruction to handle operands that are out of
range for the corresponding specific opcode (@pxref{Xtensa Relaxation,
,Xtensa Relaxation}).

Only use specific opcodes when it is essential to select
the exact machine instructions produced by the assembler.
Using specific opcodes unnecessarily only makes the code less
efficient, by disabling assembler optimization, and less flexible, by
disabling relaxation.

Note that this special handling of underscore prefixes only applies to
Xtensa opcodes, not to either built-in macros or user-defined macros.
When an underscore prefix is used with a macro (e.g., @code{_NOP}), it
refers to a different macro.  The assembler generally provides built-in
macros both with and without the underscore prefix, where the underscore
versions behave as if the underscore carries through to the instructions
in the macros.  For example, @code{_NOP} expands to @code{_OR a1,a1,a1}.

The underscore prefix only applies to individual instructions, not to
series of instructions.  For example, if a series of instructions have
underscore prefixes, the assembler will not transform the individual
instructions, but it may insert other instructions between them (e.g.,
to align a @code{LOOP} instruction).  To prevent the assembler from
modifying a series of instructions as a whole, use the
@code{no-generics} directive.  @xref{Generics Directive, ,generics}.

@node Xtensa Registers
@subsection Register Names
@cindex Xtensa register names
@cindex register names, Xtensa
@cindex sp register

An initial @samp{$} character is optional in all register names.
General purpose registers are named @samp{a0}@dots{}@samp{a15}.  Additional
registers may be added by processor configuration options.  In
particular, the @sc{mac16} option adds a @sc{mr} register bank.  Its
registers are named @samp{m0}@dots{}@samp{m3}.

As a special feature, @samp{sp} is also supported as a synonym for
@samp{a1}.

@node Xtensa Optimizations
@section Xtensa Optimizations
@cindex optimizations

The optimizations currently supported by @code{@value{AS}} are
generation of density instructions where appropriate and automatic
branch target alignment.

@menu
* Density Instructions::        Using Density Instructions.
* Xtensa Automatic Alignment::  Automatic Instruction Alignment.
@end menu

@node Density Instructions
@subsection Using Density Instructions
@cindex density instructions

The Xtensa instruction set has a code density option that provides
16-bit versions of some of the most commonly used opcodes.  Use of these
opcodes can significantly reduce code size.  When possible, the
assembler automatically translates generic instructions from the core
Xtensa instruction set into equivalent instructions from the Xtensa code
density option.  This translation can be disabled by using specific
opcodes (@pxref{Xtensa Opcodes, ,Opcode Names}), by using the
@samp{--no-density} command-line option (@pxref{Xtensa Options, ,Command
Line Options}), or by using the @code{no-density} directive
(@pxref{Density Directive, ,density}).

It is a good idea @emph{not} to use the density instructions directly.
The assembler will automatically select dense instructions where
possible.  If you later need to avoid using the code density option, you
can disable it in the assembler without having to modify the code.

@node Xtensa Automatic Alignment
@subsection Automatic Instruction Alignment
@cindex alignment of @code{LOOP} instructions
@cindex alignment of @code{ENTRY} instructions
@cindex alignment of branch targets
@cindex @code{LOOP} instructions, alignment
@cindex @code{ENTRY} instructions, alignment
@cindex branch target alignment

The Xtensa assembler will automatically align certain instructions, both
to optimize performance and to satisfy architectural requirements.

When the @code{--target-@-align} command-line option is enabled
(@pxref{Xtensa Options, ,Command Line Options}), the assembler attempts
to widen density instructions preceding a branch target so that the
target instruction does not cross a 4-byte boundary.  Similarly, the
assembler also attempts to align each instruction following a call
instruction.  If there are not enough preceding safe density
instructions to align a target, no widening will be performed.  This
alignment has the potential to reduce branch penalties at some expense
in code size.  The assembler will not attempt to align labels with the
prefixes @code{.Ln} and @code{.LM}, since these labels are used for
debugging information and are not typically branch targets.

The @code{LOOP} family of instructions must be aligned on either a 1 or
2 mod 4 byte boundary.  The assembler knows about this restriction and
inserts the minimal number of 2 or 3 byte no-op instructions
to satisfy it.  When no-op instructions are added, any label immediately
preceding the original loop will be moved in order to refer to the loop
instruction, not the newly generated no-op instruction.

Similarly, the @code{ENTRY} instruction must be aligned on a 0 mod 4
byte boundary.  The assembler satisfies this requirement by inserting
zero bytes when required.  In addition, labels immediately preceding the
@code{ENTRY} instruction will be moved to the newly aligned instruction
location.

@node Xtensa Relaxation
@section Xtensa Relaxation
@cindex relaxation

When an instruction operand is outside the range allowed for that
particular instruction field, @code{@value{AS}} can transform the code
to use a functionally-equivalent instruction or sequence of
instructions.  This process is known as @dfn{relaxation}.  This is
typically done for branch instructions because the distance of the
branch targets is not known until assembly-time.  The Xtensa assembler
offers branch relaxation and also extends this concept to function
calls, @code{MOVI} instructions and other instructions with immediate
fields.

@menu
* Xtensa Branch Relaxation::        Relaxation of Branches.
* Xtensa Call Relaxation::          Relaxation of Function Calls.
* Xtensa Immediate Relaxation::     Relaxation of other Immediate Fields.
@end menu

@node Xtensa Branch Relaxation
@subsection Conditional Branch Relaxation
@cindex relaxation of branch instructions
@cindex branch instructions, relaxation

When the target of a branch is too far away from the branch itself,
i.e., when the offset from the branch to the target is too large to fit
in the immediate field of the branch instruction, it may be necessary to
replace the branch with a branch around a jump.  For example,

@smallexample
    beqz    a2, L
@end smallexample

may result in:

@smallexample
    bnez.n  a2, M
    j L
M:
@end smallexample

(The @code{BNEZ.N} instruction would be used in this example only if the
density option is available.  Otherwise, @code{BNEZ} would be used.)

@node Xtensa Call Relaxation
@subsection Function Call Relaxation
@cindex relaxation of call instructions
@cindex call instructions, relaxation

Function calls may require relaxation because the Xtensa immediate call
instructions (@code{CALL0}, @code{CALL4}, @code{CALL8} and
@code{CALL12}) provide a PC-relative offset of only 512 Kbytes in either
direction.  For larger programs, it may be necessary to use indirect
calls (@code{CALLX0}, @code{CALLX4}, @code{CALLX8} and @code{CALLX12})
where the target address is specified in a register.  The Xtensa
assembler can automatically relax immediate call instructions into
indirect call instructions.  This relaxation is done by loading the
address of the called function into the callee's return address register
and then using a @code{CALLX} instruction.  So, for example:

@smallexample
    call8 func
@end smallexample

might be relaxed to:

@smallexample
    .literal .L1, func
    l32r    a8, .L1
    callx8  a8
@end smallexample

Because the addresses of targets of function calls are not generally
known until link-time, the assembler must assume the worst and relax all
the calls to functions in other source files, not just those that really
will be out of range.  The linker can recognize calls that were
unnecessarily relaxed, but it can only partially remove the overhead
introduced by the assembler.

Call relaxation has a negative effect
on both code size and performance, so this relaxation is disabled by 
default.  If a program is too large and some of the calls are out of
range, function call relaxation can be enabled using the
@samp{--longcalls} command-line option or the @code{longcalls} directive
(@pxref{Longcalls Directive, ,longcalls}).

@node Xtensa Immediate Relaxation
@subsection Other Immediate Field Relaxation
@cindex immediate fields, relaxation
@cindex relaxation of immediate fields

@cindex @code{MOVI} instructions, relaxation
@cindex relaxation of @code{MOVI} instructions
The @code{MOVI} machine instruction can only materialize values in the
range from -2048 to 2047.  Values outside this range are best
materialized with @code{L32R} instructions.  Thus:

@smallexample
    movi a0, 100000
@end smallexample

is assembled into the following machine code:

@smallexample
    .literal .L1, 100000
    l32r a0, .L1
@end smallexample

@cindex @code{L8UI} instructions, relaxation
@cindex @code{L16SI} instructions, relaxation
@cindex @code{L16UI} instructions, relaxation
@cindex @code{L32I} instructions, relaxation
@cindex relaxation of @code{L8UI} instructions
@cindex relaxation of @code{L16SI} instructions
@cindex relaxation of @code{L16UI} instructions
@cindex relaxation of @code{L32I} instructions
The @code{L8UI} machine instruction can only be used with immediate
offsets in the range from 0 to 255. The @code{L16SI} and @code{L16UI}
machine instructions can only be used with offsets from 0 to 510.  The
@code{L32I} machine instruction can only be used with offsets from 0 to
1020.  A load offset outside these ranges can be materalized with
an @code{L32R} instruction if the destination register of the load
is different than the source address register.  For example:

@smallexample
    l32i a1, a0, 2040
@end smallexample

is translated to:

@smallexample
    .literal .L1, 2040
    l32r a1, .L1
    addi a1, a0, a1
    l32i a1, a1, 0
@end smallexample

@noindent
If the load destination and source address register are the same, an
out-of-range offset causes an error.

@cindex @code{ADDI} instructions, relaxation
@cindex relaxation of @code{ADDI} instructions
The Xtensa @code{ADDI} instruction only allows immediate operands in the
range from -128 to 127.  There are a number of alternate instruction
sequences for the generic @code{ADDI} operation.  First, if the
immediate is 0, the @code{ADDI} will be turned into a @code{MOV.N}
instruction (or the equivalent @code{OR} instruction if the code density
option is not available).  If the @code{ADDI} immediate is outside of
the range -128 to 127, but inside the range -32896 to 32639, an
@code{ADDMI} instruction or @code{ADDMI}/@code{ADDI} sequence will be
used.  Finally, if the immediate is outside of this range and a free
register is available, an @code{L32R}/@code{ADD} sequence will be used
with a literal allocated from the literal pool.

For example:

@smallexample
    addi    a5, a6, 0
    addi    a5, a6, 512
    addi    a5, a6, 513
    addi    a5, a6, 50000
@end smallexample

is assembled into the following:

@smallexample
    .literal .L1, 50000
    mov.n   a5, a6
    addmi   a5, a6, 0x200
    addmi   a5, a6, 0x200
    addi    a5, a5, 1
    l32r    a5, .L1
    add     a5, a6, a5
@end smallexample

@node Xtensa Directives
@section Directives
@cindex Xtensa directives
@cindex directives, Xtensa

The Xtensa assember supports a region-based directive syntax:

@smallexample
    .begin @var{directive} [@var{options}]
    @dots{}
    .end @var{directive}
@end smallexample

All the Xtensa-specific directives that apply to a region of code use
this syntax.

The directive applies to code between the @code{.begin} and the
@code{.end}.  The state of the option after the @code{.end} reverts to
what it was before the @code{.begin}.
A nested @code{.begin}/@code{.end} region can further
change the state of the directive without having to be aware of its
outer state.  For example, consider:

@smallexample
    .begin no-density
L:  add a0, a1, a2
    .begin density
M:  add a0, a1, a2
    .end density
N:  add a0, a1, a2
    .end no-density
@end smallexample

The generic @code{ADD} opcodes at @code{L} and @code{N} in the outer
@code{no-density} region both result in @code{ADD} machine instructions,
but the assembler selects an @code{ADD.N} instruction for the generic
@code{ADD} at @code{M} in the inner @code{density} region.

The advantage of this style is that it works well inside macros which can
preserve the context of their callers.

@cindex precedence of directives
@cindex directives, precedence
When command-line options and assembler directives are used at the same
time and conflict, the one that overrides a default behavior takes
precedence over one that is the same as the default.  For example, if
the code density option is available, the default is to select density
instructions whenever possible.  So, if the above is assembled with the
@samp{--no-density} flag, which overrides the default, all the generic
@code{ADD} instructions result in @code{ADD} machine instructions.  If
assembled with the @samp{--density} flag, which is already the default,
the @code{no-density} directive takes precedence and only one of
the generic @code{ADD} instructions is optimized to be a @code{ADD.N}
machine instruction.  An underscore prefix identifying a specific opcode
always takes precedence over directives and command-line flags.

The following directives are available:
@menu
* Density Directive::          Disable Use of Density Instructions.
* Relax Directive::            Disable Assembler Relaxation.
* Longcalls Directive::        Use Indirect Calls for Greater Range.
* Generics Directive::         Disable All Assembler Transformations.
* Literal Directive::          Intermix Literals with Instructions.
* Literal Position Directive:: Specify Inline Literal Pool Locations.
* Literal Prefix Directive::   Specify Literal Section Name Prefix.
* Freeregs Directive::         List Registers Available for Assembler Use.
* Frame Directive::            Describe a stack frame.
@end menu

@node Density Directive
@subsection density
@cindex @code{density} directive
@cindex @code{no-density} directive

The @code{density} and @code{no-density} directives enable or disable
optimization of generic instructions into density instructions within
the region.  @xref{Density Instructions, ,Using Density Instructions}.

@smallexample
    .begin [no-]density
    .end [no-]density
@end smallexample

This optimization is enabled by default unless the Xtensa configuration
does not support the code density option or the @samp{--no-density}
command-line option was specified.

@node Relax Directive
@subsection relax
@cindex @code{relax} directive
@cindex @code{no-relax} directive

The @code{relax} directive enables or disables relaxation
within the region.  @xref{Xtensa Relaxation, ,Xtensa Relaxation}.
Note: In the current implementation, these directives also control
whether assembler optimizations are performed, making them equivalent to
the @code{generics} and @code{no-generics} directives.

@smallexample
    .begin [no-]relax
    .end [no-]relax
@end smallexample

Relaxation is enabled by default unless the @samp{--no-relax}
command-line option was specified.

@node Longcalls Directive
@subsection longcalls
@cindex @code{longcalls} directive
@cindex @code{no-longcalls} directive

The @code{longcalls} directive enables or disables function call
relaxation.  @xref{Xtensa Call Relaxation, ,Function Call Relaxation}.

@smallexample
    .begin [no-]longcalls
    .end [no-]longcalls
@end smallexample

Call relaxation is disabled by default unless the @samp{--longcalls}
command-line option is specified.

@node Generics Directive
@subsection generics
@cindex @code{generics} directive
@cindex @code{no-generics} directive

This directive enables or disables all assembler transformation,
including relaxation (@pxref{Xtensa Relaxation, ,Xtensa Relaxation}) and
optimization (@pxref{Xtensa Optimizations, ,Xtensa Optimizations}).

@smallexample
    .begin [no-]generics
    .end [no-]generics
@end smallexample

Disabling generics is roughly equivalent to adding an underscore prefix
to every opcode within the region, so that every opcode is treated as a
specific opcode.  @xref{Xtensa Opcodes, ,Opcode Names}.  In the current
implementation of @code{@value{AS}}, built-in macros are also disabled
within a @code{no-generics} region.

@node Literal Directive
@subsection literal
@cindex @code{literal} directive

The @code{.literal} directive is used to define literal pool data, i.e., 
read-only 32-bit data accessed via @code{L32R} instructions.

@smallexample
    .literal @var{label}, @var{value}[, @var{value}@dots{}]
@end smallexample

This directive is similar to the standard @code{.word} directive, except
that the actual location of the literal data is determined by the
assembler and linker, not by the position of the @code{.literal}
directive.  Using this directive gives the assembler freedom to locate
the literal data in the most appropriate place and possibly to combine
identical literals.  For example, the code:

@smallexample
    entry sp, 40
    .literal .L1, sym
    l32r    a4, .L1
@end smallexample

can be used to load a pointer to the symbol @code{sym} into register
@code{a4}.  The value of @code{sym} will not be placed between the
@code{ENTRY} and @code{L32R} instructions; instead, the assembler puts
the data in a literal pool.

By default literal pools are placed in a separate section; however, when
using the @samp{--text-@-section-@-literals} option (@pxref{Xtensa
Options, ,Command Line Options}), the literal pools are placed in the
current section.  These text section literal pools are created
automatically before @code{ENTRY} instructions and manually after
@samp{.literal_position} directives (@pxref{Literal Position Directive,
,literal_position}).  If there are no preceding @code{ENTRY}
instructions or @code{.literal_position} directives, the assembler will
print a warning and place the literal pool at the beginning of the
current section.  In such cases, explicit @code{.literal_position}
directives should be used to place the literal pools.

@node Literal Position Directive
@subsection literal_position
@cindex @code{literal_position} directive

When using @samp{--text-@-section-@-literals} to place literals inline
in the section being assembled, the @code{.literal_position} directive
can be used to mark a potential location for a literal pool.

@smallexample
    .literal_position
@end smallexample

The @code{.literal_position} directive is ignored when the
@samp{--text-@-section-@-literals} option is not used.

The assembler will automatically place text section literal pools 
before @code{ENTRY} instructions, so the @code{.literal_position}
directive is only needed to specify some other location for a literal
pool.  You may need to add an explicit jump instruction to skip over an
inline literal pool.

For example, an interrupt vector does not begin with an @code{ENTRY}
instruction so the assembler will be unable to automatically find a good
place to put a literal pool.  Moreover, the code for the interrupt
vector must be at a specific starting address, so the literal pool
cannot come before the start of the code.  The literal pool for the
vector must be explicitly positioned in the middle of the vector (before
any uses of the literals, of course).  The @code{.literal_position}
directive can be used to do this.  In the following code, the literal
for @samp{M} will automatically be aligned correctly and is placed after
the unconditional jump.

@smallexample
    .global M
code_start:
    j continue
    .literal_position
    .align 4
continue:
    movi    a4, M
@end smallexample

@node Literal Prefix Directive
@subsection literal_prefix
@cindex @code{literal_prefix} directive

The @code{literal_prefix} directive allows you to specify different
sections to hold literals from different portions of an assembly file.
With this directive, a single assembly file can be used to generate code
into multiple sections, including literals generated by the assembler.

@smallexample
    .begin literal_prefix [@var{name}]
    .end literal_prefix
@end smallexample

For the code inside the delimited region, the assembler puts literals in
the section @code{@var{name}.literal}. If this section does not yet
exist, the assembler creates it.  The @var{name} parameter is
optional. If @var{name} is not specified, the literal prefix is set to
the ``default'' for the file.  This default is usually @code{.literal}
but can be changed with the @samp{--rename-section} command-line
argument.

@node Freeregs Directive
@subsection freeregs
@cindex @code{freeregs} directive

This directive tells the assembler that the given registers are unused
in the region.

@smallexample
    .begin freeregs @var{ri}[,@var{ri}@dots{}]
    .end freeregs
@end smallexample

This allows the assembler to use these registers for relaxations or
optimizations.  (They are actually only for relaxations at present, but
the possibility of optimizations exists in the future.)

Nested @code{freeregs} directives can be used to add additional registers
to the list of those available to the assembler.  For example:

@smallexample
    .begin freeregs a3, a4
    .begin freeregs a5
@end smallexample

has the effect of declaring @code{a3}, @code{a4}, and @code{a5} all free.

@node Frame Directive
@subsection frame
@cindex @code{frame} directive

This directive tells the assembler to emit information to allow the
debugger to locate a function's stack frame.  The syntax is:

@smallexample
    .frame @var{reg}, @var{size}
@end smallexample

where @var{reg} is the register used to hold the frame pointer (usually
the same as the stack pointer) and @var{size} is the size in bytes of
the stack frame.  The @code{.frame} directive is typically placed
immediately after the @code{ENTRY} instruction for a function.

In almost all circumstances, this information just duplicates the
information given in the function's @code{ENTRY} instruction; however,
there are two cases where this is not true:

@enumerate
@item
The size of the stack frame is too big to fit in the immediate field
of the @code{ENTRY} instruction.

@item
The frame pointer is different than the stack pointer, as with functions
that call @code{alloca}.
@end enumerate

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