Timer, DMA controller, Interrupt controller built into the architecture?
Posted: 2021-07-04, 16:11:16
One important part of how the PC became common was the standardized timers, dma controllers and interrupt controllers based on the chips IBM used in early PCs:
- Intel 8237 DMA controller (x2 in PC AT)
- Intel 8259 IRQ controller (x2 in PC AT)
- Intel 8253/8254 timer
On modern PCs these were supplemented by newer devices with the same role (HPET timer, APIC interrupt ctl., bus-mastered multi-block dma).
Would it make sense to directly specify a basic set of this kind of devices in the Forwardcom spec?
- Intel 8237 DMA controller (x2 in PC AT)
- Intel 8259 IRQ controller (x2 in PC AT)
- Intel 8253/8254 timer
On modern PCs these were supplemented by newer devices with the same role (HPET timer, APIC interrupt ctl., bus-mastered multi-block dma).
Would it make sense to directly specify a basic set of this kind of devices in the Forwardcom spec?