UNIT-V

INTERRUPT STRUCTURE OF 8086

While the CPU is executing a program, an interruptbreaks the normal

sequence of execution of instructions, diverts its execution to some
otherprogram called Interrupt Service Routine (ISR).

After executing ISR, the control is transferred backagain to the main program
which was being executedat the time of interruption.

Nested interrupts.

In 8086, there are two interrupts pins: 1. NMI 2. INTR

NMI :-- Non Maskable Interrupt input pin which meansthat any interrupt
request at NMI input cannot tomasked or disabled by any means.

INTR:-- It can be masked using the Interrupt Flag (IF).

If more than one type of INTR interrupt occurs at atime, then an external chip
called programmableinterrupt controller is required to handle them. (eg:8259
interrupt controller).

There are two types of interrupts

1.External interrupts

These interrupts are generated by external devicesi.e out side the processor
(uing NMI, INTR pins). Eg:Keyboard interrupt.
1.Internal interrupts

It is generated internally by the process circuit orby the execution of an

interrupt instruction. Eg: INTinstruction, overflow interrupt, divide by zero.
Atthe end of each instruction cycle, the 8086 checksto see if any interrupts
have been requested