4.7 INTERRUPTS
We have introduced the basic hardware information required for a solid understanding of computer architecture: the CPU, buses, control unit, registers, clocks, I/O, and memory. However, there is one more concept we need to cover that deals with how these components interact with the processor: Interrupts are events that alter (or interrupt) the normal flow of execution in the system. An interrupt can be triggered for a variety of reasons, including:
I/O requests
Arithmetic errors (e.g., division by 0)
Arithmetic underflow or overflow
Hardware malfunction (e.g., memory parity error)
User-defined break points (such as when debugging a program)
Page faults (this is covered in detail in Chapter 6)
Invalid instructions (usually ...
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