Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller

In computing, Intel's Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller (APIC) is a family of interrupt controllers. As its name suggests, the APIC is more advanced than Intel's 8259 Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC), particularly enabling the construction of multiprocessor systems. It is one of several architectural designs intended to solve interrupt routing efficiency issues in multiprocessor computer systems.

The APIC is a split architecture design, with a local component (LAPIC) usually integrated into the processor itself, and an optional I/O APIC on a system bus. The first APIC was the 82489DX – it was a discrete chip that functioned both as local and I/O APIC. The 82489DX enabled construction of symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) systems with the Intel 486 and early Pentium processors; for example, the reference two-way 486 SMP system used three 82489DX chips, two as local APICs and one as I/O APIC. Starting with the P54C processor, the local APIC functionality was integrated into the Intel processors' silicon. The first dedicated I/O APIC was the Intel 82093AA, which was intended for PIIX3-based systems.

There are two components in the Intel APIC system, the local APIC (LAPIC) and the I/O APIC. There is one LAPIC in each CPU in the system. In the very first implementation (82489DX), the LAPIC was a discrete circuit opposed to its thereafter implementation in Intel processors' silicon. There is typically one I/O APIC for each peripheral bus in the system. In original system designs, LAPICs and I/O APICs were connected by a dedicated APIC bus. Newer systems use the system bus for communication between all APIC components.

Each APIC, whether a discrete chip or integrated in a CPU, has a version register containing a four-bit version number for its specific APIC implementation. For example, the 82489DX has an APIC version number of 0, while version 1 was assigned to the first generation of local APICs integrated in the Pentium 90 and 100 processors.

In systems containing an 8259 PIC, the 8259 may be connected to the LAPIC in the system's bootstrap processor (BSP), or to one of the system's I/O APICs, or both. Logically, however, the 8259 is only connected once at any given time.

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