Interrupt vector

Interrupt vector

Computing term.

When a processor receives an interrupt, the normal flow of whatever program it is running stops and control is passed to another program (or a different part of the same program). A more low-level description is to say that the CPU stops what it was doing, stores its status somewhere and jumps to another area of memory and starts running whatever code is there.

The destination to which the CPU jumps for a given interrupt is termed the interrupt vector.

Generally, most computer system designs will incorporate a list of such vectors; this is termed the interrupt vector table or dispatch table.

For more information, see the entry for interrupt.

External link

Webopedia definition of 'interrupt vector table'