Each computer's architecture has its own interrupt mechanism but they all have several functions in common. Below is a brief list of the common functions of interrupts:
• When an interrupt occurs, the control is transferred to the interrupt service routine. The interrupt service routine is generally accessed through an interrupt vector. Interrupt vector knows where to find the appropriate interrupt service routine for the current interrupt.
• The interrupt architecture must save the address of the instruction that has been interrupted (the program counter).
• Incoming interrupts must be disabled if there is an interrupt currently being processed. This is to prevent interrupts from being lost or overwritten by newly arriving interrupts.
• An interrupt is generally caused by a hardware device such as a device driver letting the CPU know that some data has been read from the device and is waiting in the local device buffer.
• A trap is a software-generated interrupt that is either caused by an error or by a user request for an I/O operation.
• An operating system is interrupt driven. This means that if there are no interrupts, then the system will be idle.
• The operating system must preserve the state of the CPU by storing the contents of the registers and the program counter.
• The operating system must provide a segment of code that specifies what action is to be taken in the event of an interrupt. There must be a code segment that is specific to each type of interrupt.
• When an interrupt occurs, the control is transferred to the interrupt service routine. The interrupt service routine is generally accessed through an interrupt vector. Interrupt vector knows where to find the appropriate interrupt service routine for the current interrupt.
• The interrupt architecture must save the address of the instruction that has been interrupted (the program counter).
• Incoming interrupts must be disabled if there is an interrupt currently being processed. This is to prevent interrupts from being lost or overwritten by newly arriving interrupts.
• An interrupt is generally caused by a hardware device such as a device driver letting the CPU know that some data has been read from the device and is waiting in the local device buffer.
• A trap is a software-generated interrupt that is either caused by an error or by a user request for an I/O operation.
• An operating system is interrupt driven. This means that if there are no interrupts, then the system will be idle.
• The operating system must preserve the state of the CPU by storing the contents of the registers and the program counter.
• The operating system must provide a segment of code that specifies what action is to be taken in the event of an interrupt. There must be a code segment that is specific to each type of interrupt.