MSI Interrupts

Conventional PCI specifications include optional support for Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI). An MSI is an in-band message that is implemented as a posted write. The address and the data for the MSI are specified by software and are specific to the host bridge. Because the messages are in-band, the receipt of the message can be used to “push” data that is associated with the interrupt. By definition, MSI interrupts are unshared. Each MSI message that is assigned to a device is guaranteed to be a unique message in the system. PCI functions can request 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 MSI messages. Note that the system software can allocate fewer MSI messages to a function than the function requested. The host bridge can be limited in the number of unique MSI messages that are allocated for devices.