SH7616 Datasheet, PDF (162/935 Pages) Renesas Technology Corp – 32-Bit RISC Microcomputer SuperH™ RISC engine Family/SH7600 Series

Section 4 Exception Handling
4.4.2 Interrupt Priority Levels
The interrupt priority order is predetermined. When multiple interrupts occur simultaneously, the
interrupt controller (INTC) determines their relative priorities and begins exception handling
accordingly.
The priority order of interrupts is expressed as priority levels 0–16, with priority 0 the lowest and
priority 16 the highest. The NMI interrupt has priority 16 and cannot be masked, so it is always
accepted. The user break interrupt priority level is 15 and IRL interrupts have priorities of 1–15.
On-chip peripheral module interrupt priority levels can be set freely using the INTC’s interrupt
priority level setting registers A–E (IPRA–IPRE) as shown in table 4.8. The priority levels that
can be set are 0–15. Level 16 cannot be set. For more information on IPRA–IPRE, see sections
5.3.1, Interrupt Priority Level Setting Register A (IPRA), to 5.3.5, Interrupt Priority Level Setting
Register E (IPRE).
Table 4.8 Interrupt Priority Order
Type
NMI
User break
H-UDI
IRL
IRQ
On-chip peripheral module
Priority Level Comment
16
Fixed priority level. Cannot be masked
15
Fixed priority level
15
Fixed priority level
1–15
Set with IRL3–IRL0 pins
0–15
Set with interrupt priority level setting register C
(IPRC)
0–15
Set with interrupt priority level setting registers A, B,
D, and E (IPRA, IPRB, IPRD, IPRE)
4.4.3 Interrupt Exception Handling
When an interrupt occurs, its priority level is ascertained by the interrupt controller (INTC). NMI
is always accepted, but other interrupts are only accepted if they have a priority level higher than
the priority level set in the interrupt mask bits (I3–I0) of the status register (SR).
When an interrupt is accepted, exception handling begins. In interrupt exception handling, the
CPU saves SR and the program counter (PC) to the stack. The priority level value of the accepted
interrupt is written to SR bits I3–I0. For NMI, however, the priority level is 16, but the value set in
I3–I0 is H'F (level 15). Next, the start address of the exception service routine is fetched from the
exception vector table for the accepted interrupt, that address is jumped to and execution begins.
For more information about interrupt exception handling, see section 5.4, Interrupt Operation.
Rev. 2.00 Mar 09, 2006 page 136 of 906
REJ09B0292-0200