Inter-processor interrupt: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:02, 24 May 2008

Revision as of 10:39, 3 July 2008

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An '''inter-processor interrupt''' ('''IPI''') is a special type of [[interrupt]] by which one processor may interrupt another processor in a [[multiprocessor]] system. IPIs are typically used to implement a [[cache coherency]] [[synchronization]] point.

In a Windows based multiprocessor system, a processor may interrupt another processor for the following reasons:

1. Queue a DISPATCH_LEVEL interrupt to schedule a particular thread for execution.

2. updating the processor's translation look-aside buffers cache.

3. System Shutdown.

4. System Crash.

In windows, this has IRQL as 29.

In [[x86 architecture|x86]] based systems, an IPI synchronizes the cache and [[Memory Management Unit]] (MMU) between processors.