meaning of software interrupt
1. software interrupt An interrupt caused by a specific machine language operation code e. g. the Motorola 68000s TRAP, the IBM System/390s SVC or the ARMs SWI rather than by a hardware event. As with a hardware interrupt, this causes the processor to store the current state, store identifying information about the particular interrupt, and pass control to a first level interrupt handler. A trap is similar except that it is caused by an unexpected software condition or error e. g. divide by zero, undefined instruction rather than a deliberate instruction.
Related Words
