11.1 Overview
The Vectored Interrupt Controller (VIC) module reduces the numerous peripheral interrupt request signals to a single interrupt request signal to the CPU. This module includes the following major features:
- Interrupt Vector Table (IVT) with a unique vector for each interrupt source
- Fixed and ensured interrupt latency
- Programmable base address for IVT with lock
- Two user-selectable priority levels: high-priority and low-priority
- Two levels of context saving
- Interrupt state Status bits to indicate the current execution status of the CPU
The VIC module assembles all of the interrupt request signals and resolves the interrupts based on both a fixed natural order priority (i.e., determined by the IVT) and a user-assigned priority (i.e., determined by the IPRx registers), thereby eliminating scanning of interrupt sources.