Intel ARCHITECTURE IA-32 User Manual download pdf (Page 245)

Vol. 3A 6-3

TASK MANAGEMENT

6.1.3 Executing a Task

Software or the processor can dispatch a task for execution in one of the following ways:

• A explicit call to a task with the CALL instruction.

• A explicit jump to a task with the JMP instruction.

• An implicit call (by the processor) to an interrupt-handler task.

• An implicit call to an exception-handler task.

• A return (initiated with an IRET instruction) when the NT flag in the EFLAGS register is

set.

All of these methods for dispatching a task identify the task to be dispatched with a segment

selector that points to a task gate or the TSS for the task. When dispatching a task with a CALL

or JMP instruction, the selector in the instruction may select the TSS directly or a task gate that

holds the selector for the TSS. When dispatching a task to handle an interrupt or exception, the

IDT entry for the interrupt or exception must contain a task gate that holds the selector for the

interrupt- or exception-handler TSS.

When a task is dispatched for execution, a task switch occurs between the currently running task

and the dispatched task. During a task switch, the execution environment of the currently

executing task (called the task’s state or context) is saved in its TSS and execution of the task is

suspended. The context for the dispatched task is then loaded into the processor and execution

of that task begins with the instruction pointed to by the newly loaded EIP register. If the task

has not been run since the system was last initialized, the EIP will point to the first instruction

of the task’s code; otherwise, it will point to the next instruction after the last instruction that the

task executed when it was last active.

If the currently executing task (the calling task) called the task being dispatched (the called task),

the TSS segment selector for the calling task is stored in the TSS of the called task to provide a

link back to the calling task.

For all IA-32 processors, tasks are not recursive. A task cannot call or jump to itself.

Interrupts and exceptions can be handled with a task switch to a handler task. Here, the processor

performs a task switch to handle the interrupt or exception and automatically switches back to

the interrupted task upon returning from the interrupt-handler task or exception-handler task.

This mechanism can also handle interrupts that occur during interrupt tasks.

As part of a task switch, the processor can also switch to another LDT, allowing each task to have

a different logical-to-physical address mapping for LDT-based segments. The page-directory base

tables. These protection facilities help isolate tasks and prevent them from interfering with one

another.

If protection mechanisms are not used, the processor provides no protection between tasks. This

is true even with operating systems that use multiple privilege levels for protection. A task

running at privilege level 3 that uses the same LDT and page tables as other privilege-level-3

tasks can access code and corrupt data and the stack of other tasks.

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Intel ARCHITECTURE IA-32 User Manual Page 245