Specification Clarifications
54
Specification Update
Specification Clarifications
The Specification Clarifications listed in this section may apply to the following
documents:
Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer’s Manual, Volume 3A:
System Programming Guide
AZ1.
Clarification of Translation Lookaside Buffers (TLBS) Invalidation
Section 10.9 INVALIDATING THE TRANSLATION LOOKASIDE BUFFERS (TLBS) of the
Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual, Volume 3A: System
Programming Guide will be modified to include the presence of page table structure
caches, such as the page directory cache, which Intel processors implement. This
information is needed to aid operating systems in managing page table structure
invalidations properly.
Intel will update the Intel® 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developer's Manual,
Volume 3A: System Programming Guide in the coming months. Until that time, an
application note,
TLBs, Paging-Structure Caches, and Their Invalidation
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/manuals/index.htm
), is available which
provides more information on the paging structure caches and TLB invalidation.
In rare instances, improper TLB invalidation may result in unpredictable system behavior,
such as system hangs or incorrect data. Developers of operating systems should take
this documentation into account when designing TLB invalidation algorithms.
AZ2.
CPUID Instruction Will Return Brand String With a Missing Letter
The Specification Clarification listed in this section applies to the following documents:
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processors, Intel® Core™2 Solo Processors and Intel® Core™2
Extreme Processors on 45-nm Process Datasheet for Platforms based on Mobile
Intel® 45 Express Chipset Family
When the brand strings of the
Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core Mobile Processor,
Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile Processor in SFF Package and Intel Core 2 Solo Mobile
Processor in SFF Package
are displayed, one less character in the processor number
will be shown. This is due to a limitation in the number of characters allowed in their on-
chip processor number.
Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core Mobile Processor
on-chip brand string
will show
processor numbers without the letter „X‟ and both the
Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile
Processor in SFF Package
and
Intel Core 2 Solo Mobile Processor in SFF Package
will show their processor numbers without the first letter „S‟ as indicated in the table
below.