Initial MeP processor module for IDA Pro
Toshiba MeP for IDA Pro is available as v0.1.0, adding a processor module for IDA Pro 9.4 and newer. It gives the disassembler a dedicated definition for analyzing software built for Toshiba’s MeP architecture.
The release includes mep.dll as its packaged asset. The v0.1.0 release was published on October 19, 2026, and the release notes contain no itemized changes beyond the availability of this initial build.
Core instruction and control-flow analysis
The module supports analysis of the MeP core instruction set together with the C5 additions. This lets IDA Pro interpret supported MeP instructions using the project’s processor definition instead of treating them as an unknown or mismatched architecture.
Basic code and data reference detection helps identify relationships between instructions, code locations, and referenced data. The module also provides basic branch detection for an initial view of control flow, along with basic stack behavior detection for recognized stack-related operations.
These features are intended for supported MeP core and C5 code. Analysis may be incomplete when a binary uses architectural features outside the module’s coverage.
VLIW and co-processor support are not included
Version 0.1.0 does not support VLIW, including operation switching. Code that relies on those features may not be represented correctly by the module.
Co-processor instruction sets are also unsupported. The project notes that they could be implemented as a separate processor module, while integrating multiple instruction sets and switching between them would require more extensive work.
As a result, the release is best suited to initial analysis of MeP code that uses the supported core and C5 instruction sets. Results involving VLIW, operation switching, or co-processor instructions should be treated as incomplete.
Project background and source builds
The processor module is mostly generated from CGEN, with modifications made to the generated files. Its focus is providing MeP instruction definitions and basic processor behavior to IDA Pro rather than serving as a complete MeP development environment or toolchain.
The repository includes source-build instructions for developers using the IDA SDK. They cover placing the project in the SDK’s module directory, adding it to the SDK makefile, and following the SDK’s platform-specific build process. The Windows build notes specify Visual Studio 2022 and an IDA SDK installed at C:\IDASDK.
The project also documents a script for regenerating CGEN files and warns that the checked-in generated files contain modifications that may need to be preserved when regenerating them.
License
The project code is licensed under the MIT License under the special exception to GPLv3 described in the repository. The included CGEN headers are licensed under GPLv3 terms.
For reverse engineers working with supported MeP core or C5 binaries, v0.1.0 provides a dedicated IDA Pro processor definition with basic reference, branch, and stack analysis. Its missing VLIW and co-processor support remains the main limitation of this initial release.
