mul $v2,$s3,$t0
Translates into:
mult $s3, $t0 mflo $v2
The
mul
pseudoinstruction makes it look as if MIPS has a
32-bit multiply instruction that places its 32-bit result
in a register.
(Some MIPS processors actually have a basic instruction
that does this.)
mul d,s,t # multiply $s by $t.
# put the
# result in $d
# Operands are two's
# complement.
# (pseudoinstruction)
There is no overflow checking. The bits of hi are not examined nor saved. There are several other pseudoinstructions that examine hi and perform various actions on overflow. We won't use them.
There is a similar pseudoinstruction for division built out of basic instructions.