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difference between IRQ and Interrupt Priority level

Can someone tell me if the IRQ of a device is different to the Interrupt Priority level?

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  • so IRQ's themselves have no priority attached to them, but when handled by the PIC, they are prioritized by the PIC? Commented Jan 2, 2010 at 11:57
  • Oh, we're talking about PIC processors. You tagged the question 'windows'. I don't know about PICs, but it seems to me that if handling the IRQs is handled by software, anything is possible. Sorry, I can't be more specific because I don't know what the software does. Commented Jan 2, 2010 at 12:31
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    I looked in Wikipedia, and found you meant Programmable Interrupt Controller. There was no mention of 'priority' in the article, so I must conclude that any prioritizing is indeed done by software. You can do anything with software, you know ;-D Commented Jan 2, 2010 at 12:39
  • IRQ in the general PC sense means "interrupt request line". different IRQs meant different addresses, and allowed multiple devices to interrupt the processor without sharing an interrupt line. had nothing to do with priority. Commented Jan 2, 2010 at 13:19