An interrupt is an asynchronous signal calling for processor attention. Interrupts can originate in hardware or in software. The interrupt mechanism is a way to avoid wasting processor time, because without interrupts code has to poll hardware devices in ineffective, closed-loops. With interrupts the processor can continue to do its work because the interrupt mechanism ensures that the CPU will receive a signal whenever an event occurs that requires its attention. PIC microcontrollers provide varying levels of support for interrupts. We focus on interrupts on the 16F84. Other members of the mid-range PIC family support interrupts with minor variations.
Four different sources ...
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