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Joined 2026-09-21 Message
Incoming links: Interrupt controller
Interrupt 2026-10-13
An interrupt redirects CPU execution to an interrupt handler in response to an event. Here the main case is an asynchronous hardware interrupt: a timer or device requests attention independently of the instruction currently being executed. A device completing a receive operation can announce that its data is ready while the CPU is running another program. Interrupt-driven input-output illustrates this with an explicit timeline. [ref]
https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/OSTEP/cpu-mechanisms.pdf. Arpaci-Dusseau and Arpaci-Dusseau, OSTEP chapter 6, section 6.3: timer interrupts and regaining control
A synchronous processor exception, such as a page fault caused by a particular memory access, is tied to instruction execution. A system call is an intentional program request for an operating-system kernel service. These routes can share entry machinery, and an instruction named a software interrupt can implement a system call, but this does not make that request an asynchronous device event. For example, the Linux kernel on x86 documents separate entries for external interrupts, divide exceptions,
syscall and int 0x80. [ref]https://docs.kernel.org/arch/x86/entry_64.html. Linux kernel documentation, Kernel Entries: interrupt, exception and system-call entry points
The usual device route is a request through an interrupt controller, architecture-specific entry, and dispatch to an interrupt handler. In the Linux kernel, generic handling separates controller operations from flow handling and device driver callbacks. Requests can arrive through a pin or a message, and several devices can share a request source. Routing, priorities and interrupt masking determine which requests can be delivered; notification therefore need not mean immediate execution of the interrupt handler. [ref]
https://docs.kernel.org/core-api/genericirq.html. Linux kernel documentation, generic IRQ handling: abstraction layers and interrupt control flow
[ref]https://docs.kernel.org/core-api/irq/concepts.html. Linux kernel documentation, What is an IRQ?: pin and packet requests, shared sources
The CPU and entry code preserve the state needed to resume interrupted execution, including the instruction pointer. Handling may enter a higher processor privilege level when interrupting ordinary program execution, but an interrupt can also arrive while privileged code is already running. The protected entry route and handler placement depend on the architecture and operating system; a microkernel need not place all device driver work where a monolithic kernel does. An interrupt entry is also distinct from a context switch to another operating-system process. [ref]
https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/OSTEP/cpu-mechanisms.pdf. Arpaci-Dusseau and Arpaci-Dusseau, OSTEP chapter 6, sections 6.2–6.3: protected entry, saved state and switching
[ref]https://docs.kernel.org/arch/x86/entry_64.html. Linux kernel documentation, Kernel Entries: entry from user mode and already executing kernel code
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