Vectored Interrupt Controller Port
ARM DDI 0301H
Copyright © 2004-2009 ARM Limited. All rights reserved.
12-3
ID012310
Non-Confidential, Unrestricted Access
12.2
About the processor VIC port
Figure 12-1 shows the VIC port and the Peripheral Interface connecting a PL192 VIC and the
processor.
Figure 12-1 Connection of a VIC to the processor
Note
Do not be confused by the naming of the
IRQADDRVSYNCEN
and
nVICSYNCEN
signals.
Although one is active HIGH and the other is active LOW they are connected to a common
external synchronization disable signal. See the signal descriptions in Table 12-1 for more
information.
The VIC port enables the processor to read the vector address as part of the IRQ interrupt entry.
That is, the processor takes a vector address from this interface instead of using the legacy
0x00000018
or
0xFFFF0018
.The VIC port does not support the reading of FIQ vector addresses.
The interrupt interface is designed to handle interrupts asserted by a controller that is clocked
either synchronously or asynchronously to the processor clock. This capability ensures that the
controller can be used in systems that have either a synchronous or asynchronous interface
between the core clock and the AXI clock.
The VIC port consists of the signals that Table 12-1 lists.
IRQACK
is driven by the processor to indicate to an external VIC that the processor wants to
read the
IRQADDR
input.
nFIQ
nIRQ
IRQADDRV
IRQADDR[31:2]
VICVECTADDROUT[31:2]
VICIRQADDRV
VICIRQACK
nVICIRQ
nVICFIQ
VIC
Processor
nVICSYNCEN
IRQACK
IRQADDRVSYNCEN
INTSYNCEN
0
VICVECTADDRIN[31:0]
VICINTSOURCE[(N-1):0]
nVICFIQIN
nVICIRQIN
Table 12-1 VIC port signals
Signal name
Direction
Description
nFIQ
Input
Active LOW fast interrupt request signal
nIRQ
Input
Active LOW normal interrupt request signal
INTSYNCEN
Input
If this signal is asserted HIGH, the internal
nFIQ
and
nIRQ
synchronizers are
bypassed and the interface is synchronous
IRQADDRVSYNCEN
Input
If this signal is asserted HIGH, the internal
IRQADDRV
synchronizer is
bypassed and the interface is synchronous
IRQACK
Output
Active HIGH IRQ acknowledge
IRQADDRV
Input
Active HIGH valid signal for the IRQ interrupt vector address below
IRQADDR[31:2]
Input
IRQ interrupt vector address.
IRQADDR[31:2]
holds the address of the first
ARM state instruction in the IRQ handler