What is the function of an interrupt in an operating system?

What is the function of an interrupt in an operating system?

• A. To pause a running process
• B. To communicate and react to events
• C. To allocate memory
• D. To manage disk I/O scheduling

Answer: (B)

An interrupt is a signal sent to the CPU from hardware or software indicating that an event needs attention. The main function is to communicate that something has happened and to prompt the operating system to respond. When an interrupt occurs, the OS saves the current state, handles the event through an interrupt service routine, and then resumes work or starts a higher-priority task if needed. This mechanism enables asynchronous event handling, timely I/O processing, and multitasking without continuous polling. Other roles like merely pausing a running process or tasks such as managing memory allocation or disk I/O scheduling are responsibilities of different parts of the OS. An interrupt may cause a process to pause, but its primary purpose is to signal and react to events.

An interrupt is a signal sent to the CPU from hardware or software indicating that an event needs attention. The main function is to communicate that something has happened and to prompt the operating system to respond. When an interrupt occurs, the OS saves the current state, handles the event through an interrupt service routine, and then resumes work or starts a higher-priority task if needed. This mechanism enables asynchronous event handling, timely I/O processing, and multitasking without continuous polling.

Other roles like merely pausing a running process or tasks such as managing memory allocation or disk I/O scheduling are responsibilities of different parts of the OS. An interrupt may cause a process to pause, but its primary purpose is to signal and react to events.