Interrupt Instructions

Call to Interrupt Procedure (int, into)

int 3
int	imm8
into

Operation

interrupt 3 -- trap to debugger

interrupt numbered by immediate byte

interrupt 4 -- if overflow flag is 1

Description

The int instruction generates a software call to an interrupt handler. The imm8 (0 to 255) operand specifies an index number into the IDT (Interrupt Descriptor Table) of the interrupt routine to be called. In Protect Mode, the IDT consists of an array of 8-byte descriptors; the descriptor for the interrupt invoked must indicate an interrupt, trap, or task gate. In Real Address Mode, the IDT is an array of four byte-long pointers. In Protected and Real Address Modes, the base linear address of the IDT is defined by the contents of the IDTR.

The into form of the int instruction implies interrupt 4. The interrupt occurs only if the overflow flag is set.

The first 32 interrupts are reserved for system use. Some of these interrupts are used for internally generated exceptions.

The int imm8 form of the interrupt instruction behaves like a far call except that the flags register is pushed onto the stack before the return address. Interrupt procedures return via the iret instruction, which pops the flags and return address from the stack.

In Real Address Mode, the int imm8 pushes the flags, CS, and the return IP onto the stack, in that order, then jumps to the long pointer indexed by the interrupt number.

Example

Trap to debugger:

int $3

Trap to interrupt 0xff:

int $0xff

Trap to interrupt 4:

into

Interrupt Return (iret)

iret

Operation

return -> routine

Description

In Real Address Mode, iret pops CS, the flags register, and the instruction pointer from the stack and resumes the routine that was interrupted. In Protected Mode, the setting of the nested task flag (NT) determines the action of iret. The IOPL flag register bits are changed when CPL equals 0 and the new flag image is popped from the stack.

iret returns from an interrupt procedure without a task switch if NT equals 0. Returned code must be equally or less privileged than the interrupt routine as indicated CS selector RPL bits popped from the stack. If the returned code is less privileged, iret pops SS and the stack pointer from the stack.

iret reverses the operation of an INT or CALL that caused the task switch if NT equals 1.The task executing iret is updated and saved in its task segment. The code that follows iret is executed if the task is re-entered.

Example

Resume the interrupted routine:

iret