software interrupt
An interrupt caused by a specific machine language operation code (e.g. the
Motorola 68000's TRAP, the IBM System/390's SVC or the ARM's SWI) rather than by
a hardware event.
As with a hardware interrupt, this causes the processor to store the current
state, store identifying information about the particular interrupt, and pass
control to a first level interrupt handler.
A trap is similar except that it is caused by an unexpected software condition
or error (e.g. divide by zero, undefined instruction) rather than a deliberate
instruction.
(1995-02-14)
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