LM3S101 Datasheet, PDF (69/445 Pages) List of Unclassifed Manufacturers – Microcontroller

Stellaris^® LM3S101 Microcontroller
2.5.6
2.5.7
If multiple pending exceptions have the same priority, the pending exception with the lowest exception
number takes precedence. For example, if both IRQ[0] and IRQ[1] are pending and have the same
priority, then IRQ[0] is processed before IRQ[1].
When the processor is executing an exception handler, the exception handler is preempted if a
higher priority exception occurs. If an exception occurs with the same priority as the exception being
handled, the handler is not preempted, irrespective of the exception number. However, the status
of the new interrupt changes to pending.
Interrupt Priority Grouping
To increase priority control in systems with interrupts, the NVIC supports priority grouping. This
grouping divides each interrupt priority register entry into two fields:
■ An upper field that defines the group priority
■ A lower field that defines a subpriority within the group
Only the group priority determines preemption of interrupt exceptions. When the processor is
executing an interrupt exception handler, another interrupt with the same group priority as the
interrupt being handled does not preempt the handler.
If multiple pending interrupts have the same group priority, the subpriority field determines the order
in which they are processed. If multiple pending interrupts have the same group priority and
subpriority, the interrupt with the lowest IRQ number is processed first.
For information about splitting the interrupt priority fields into group priority and subpriority, see
page 100.
Exception Entry and Return
Descriptions of exception handling use the following terms:
■ Preemption. When the processor is executing an exception handler, an exception can preempt
the exception handler if its priority is higher than the priority of the exception being handled. See
“Interrupt Priority Grouping” on page 69 for more information about preemption by an interrupt.
When one exception preempts another, the exceptions are called nested exceptions. See
“Exception Entry” on page 70 more information.
■ Return. Return occurs when the exception handler is completed, and there is no pending
exception with sufficient priority to be serviced and the completed exception handler was not
handling a late-arriving exception. The processor pops the stack and restores the processor
state to the state it had before the interrupt occurred. See “Exception Return” on page 71 for
more information.
■ Tail-Chaining. This mechanism speeds up exception servicing. On completion of an exception
handler, if there is a pending exception that meets the requirements for exception entry, the
stack pop is skipped and control transfers to the new exception handler.
■ Late-Arriving. This mechanism speeds up preemption. If a higher priority exception occurs
during state saving for a previous exception, the processor switches to handle the higher priority
exception and initiates the vector fetch for that exception. State saving is not affected by late
arrival because the state saved is the same for both exceptions. Therefore, the state saving
continues uninterrupted. The processor can accept a late arriving exception until the first instruction
of the exception handler of the original exception enters the execute stage of the processor. On
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