CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cpu-architecturecpu-registersinstruction-setinstructions
Jacob Miller
Jacob Miller

Reputation: 37

What is the difference between Processor Status Word (PSW) and Program Status Word (PSW)?

As per Oxford dictionary;

Program Status Word

A collection of information that encapsulates the basic execution state of a program at any instant. It permits an interrupted process to resume operation after the interrupt has been handled. The information is held in the program status register, and usually contains the value of the program counter and bits indicating the status of various conditions in the ALU such as overflow and carry, along with the information on supervisor privileged status. The contents of other processor registers may also need to be preserved in memory after an interruption of a process and recovered when the interrupted process is resumed so that the complete process state is reestablished. See also processor status word.

Processor Status Word

A word that describes fully the condition of a processor at each instant. It indicates which classes of operations are allowed and which are forbidden, and the status of all interrupts associated with the processor. It will also contain the address of the instruction currently being executed. The PSW is held in a register known as the processor status register. See also program status word.

I find it hard to differentiate between the two. If asked an AI it will say those two terms are used interchangeably. Wikipedia has an entry for 'Program Status Word' but not for the 'Processor Status Word'.

Are those two terms really meant the same thing (in the implementation atleast)?

Web search and AI didn't help much.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 171

Answers (1)

jaroenchoke
jaroenchoke

Reputation: 23

These two terms are usually used interchangeably. So I would answer it depends on the context you're talking about.

If you think about it, a process is just a program that got loaded into memory and is waiting to be executed.

So I would suggest talking about the other party in your project to get the same ideal.

(This might not involve, but I feel odd that someone used the Oxford dictionary as a reference for a technical term.)

Upvotes: 1

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