GICC_IAR, CPU Interface Interrupt Acknowledge Register
The GICC_IAR characteristics are:
Purpose
Provides the INTID of the signaled interrupt. A read of this register by the PE acts as an acknowledge for the interrupt.
Configuration
This register is available in all configurations of the GIC. If GICD_CTLR.DS==0:
- This register is Common.
- GICC_AIAR is an alias of the Non-secure view of this register.
The format of the INTID is governed by whether affinity routing is enabled for a Security state.
Attributes
GICC_IAR is a 32-bit register.
Field descriptions
The GICC_IAR bit assignments are:
Bits [31:24]
Reserved, RES0.
INTID, bits [23:0]
The INTID of the signaled interrupt.
INTIDs 1020-1023 are reserved and convey additional information such as spurious interrupts.
When affinity routing is not enabled:
- Bits [23:13] are RES0.
- For SGIs, bits [12:10] identify the CPU interface corresponding to the source PE. For all other interrupts these bits are RES0.
A read of this register returns the INTID of the highest priority pending interrupt for the CPU interface. The read returns a spurious INTID of 1023 if any of the following apply:
- Forwarding of interrupts by the Distributor to the CPU interface is disabled.
- Signaling of interrupts by the CPU interface to the connected PE is disabled.
- There are no pending interrupts on the CPU interface with sufficient priority for the interface to signal it to the PE.
When the GIC returns a valid INTID to a read of this register it treats the read as an acknowledge of that interrupt. In addition, it changes the interrupt status from pending to active, or to active and pending if the pending state of the interrupt persists. Normally, the pending state of an interrupt persists only if the interrupt is level-sensitive and remains asserted.
For every read of a valid INTID from GICC_IAR, the connected PE must perform a matching write to GICC_EOIR.
- Arm recommends that software preserves the entire register value read from this register, and writes that value back to GICC_EOIR on completion of interrupt processing.
- For SPIs, although multiple target PEs might attempt to read this register at any time, only one PE can obtain a valid INTID. For more information, see 'Activation' in ARM® Generic Interrupt Controller Architecture Specification, GIC architecture version 3.0 and version 4.0 (ARM IHI 0069).
Accessing the GICC_IAR
When GICD_CTLR.DS==1, if the highest priority pending interrupt is in Group 1, the special INTID 1022 is returned.
In GIC implementations that support two Security states, if the highest priority pending interrupt is in Group 0, Non-secure reads return the special INTID 1023.
In GIC implementations that support two Security states, if the highest priority pending interrupt is in Group 1, Secure reads return the special INTID 1022.
This register is used only when System register access is not enabled. When System register access is enabled:
- For AArch32 implementations, ICC_IAR0 and ICC_IAR1 provide equivalent functionality.
- For AArch64 implementations, ICC_IAR0_EL1 and ICC_IAR1_EL1 provide equivalent functionality.
When affinity routing is enabled for a Security state, it is a programming error to use memory-mapped registers to access the GIC.
GICC_IAR can be accessed through the memory-mapped interfaces:
| Component | Offset | Instance |
|---|---|---|
| GIC CPU interface | 0x000C | GICC_IAR |
This interface is accessible as follows:
- When GICD_CTLR.DS == 0 accesses to this register are RO.
- When an access is Secure accesses to this register are RO.
- When an access is Non-secure accesses to this register are RO.