CS 233 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Hard Disk Drive, Opcode, Status Register
Document Summary
Interrupts are external events that require the processor"s attention. Examples: i/o device needs attention, timer interrupts to mark cycle. All interruptions are recoverable: interrupted program will need to be resumed after the interrupt is handled. Os responsible to do the right thing, such as: Save the current state and shut down the hardware devices. Find and load the correct data from the hard disk. Transfer data to/from the i/o device, or install drivers. Exceptions are typically errors that are detected within the processor. To receive interrupts, the software has to enable them. Mips: done by writing the status register (not the co-processor) Select which interrupts to receive by setting one or more of bits 8-15. When an interrupt occurs, the cause register indicates which one. For an exception, the exception code eld holds the exception type.
