Interruptrelated

Interruptrelated is a nonstandard compound term used in informal technical writing and tagging to refer to topics, issues, and techniques that revolve around processor interrupts. It covers both hardware interrupts generated by external devices and software interrupts, such as traps or system calls, and the subsequent handling by software.

In hardware, an interrupt signals the CPU to suspend current work, saves context, and invokes an interrupt service routine. In software, interrupts can be generated by instructions or by the OS to request services. Interrupt controllers, such as a programmable interrupt controller (PIC) or advanced programmable interrupt controller (APIC), manage prioritization and delivery of IRQs. The interrupt descriptor table or vector table maps interrupts to handlers.

Key concepts include interrupt latency (delay between request and service), nesting and masking, interrupt priority, and reentrancy. The ISR should be fast and non-blocking; long-running work is often deferred to a bottom half, tasklet, or a dedicated worker thread. Critical sections and atomic operations are used to protect shared data modified in interrupt context.

In practice, interruptrelated topics appear in firmware development for microcontrollers, real-time operating systems, and general-purpose OS kernels. Designers consider determinism, resource usage, and responsiveness, employing strategies such as interrupt coalescing, hardware timers, and interrupt-driven I/O. The term itself is not standardized and is typically used as a tag or shorthand for collections of articles on interrupts.

See also: interrupt latency, interrupt service routine, IRQ, interrupt controller, nested interrupts, masking, real-time systems.