LM3S1968 Datasheet, PDF (86/709 Pages) List of Unclassifed Manufacturers – Microcontroller

The Cortex-M3 Processor
2.5.7.1
return from the exception handler of the late-arriving exception, the normal tail-chaining rules
apply.
Exception Entry
Exception entry occurs when there is a pending exception with sufficient priority and either the
processor is in Thread mode or the new exception is of higher priority than the exception being
handled, in which case the new exception preempts the original exception.
When one exception preempts another, the exceptions are nested.
Sufficient priority means the exception has more priority than any limits set by the mask registers
(see PRIMASK on page 67, FAULTMASK on page 68, and BASEPRI on page 69). An exception
with less priority than this is pending but is not handled by the processor.
When the processor takes an exception, unless the exception is a tail-chained or a late-arriving
exception, the processor pushes information onto the current stack. This operation is referred to as
stacking and the structure of eight data words is referred to as stack frame.
Figure 2-7. Exception Stack Frame
...
{aligner}
xPSR
PC
LR
R12
R3
R2
R1
R0
Pre-IRQ top of stack
IRQ top of stack
Immediately after stacking, the stack pointer indicates the lowest address in the stack frame. Unless
stack alignment is disabled, the stack frame is aligned to a double-word address. If the STKALIGN
bit of the Configuration Control (CCR) register is set, stack align adjustment is performed during
stacking.
The stack frame includes the return address, which is the address of the next instruction in the
interrupted program. This value is restored to the PC at exception return so that the interrupted
program resumes.
In parallel to the stacking operation, the processor performs a vector fetch that reads the exception
handler start address from the vector table. When stacking is complete, the processor starts executing
the exception handler. At the same time, the processor writes an EXC_RETURN value to the LR,
indicating which stack pointer corresponds to the stack frame and what operation mode the processor
was in before the entry occurred.
If no higher-priority exception occurs during exception entry, the processor starts executing the
exception handler and automatically changes the status of the corresponding pending interrupt to
active.
If another higher-priority exception occurs during exception entry, known as late arrival, the processor
starts executing the exception handler for this exception and does not change the pending status
of the earlier exception.
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July 15, 2014
Texas Instruments-Production Data