Local APIC Added in the P54C

The P54C version of the Pentium® was the first IA32 processor to incorporate the Local APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller; see Figure 20-7 on page 480) into the processor core. The Local APIC had the following features:

  • Permits the currently executing program to send an Inter-Processor Interrupt (IPI) message to the Local APIC in another processor over the 3-wire APIC bus.

  • Permits the processor core to receive an IPI from another processor over the 3-wire APIC bus.

  • The Local APIC incorporates a programmable timer that can generate an interrupt when it expires or at regular intervals.

  • Permits the currently-executing program to be interrupted upon the receipt of an interrupt message from the IO APIC module ...

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