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MultiProcessor Specification 1.4
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1 U. q9 R5 D* C5 k' d/ zThe MultiProcessor Specification, hereafter known as the “MP specification,” defines an
1 u) q! e. ~& W) c+ ?enhancement to the standard to which PC manufacturers design DOS-compatible systems.1 Q2 S% ~# F# s# r
MP-capable operating systems will be able to run without special customization on multiprocessor
) S: T! _) o7 A" e8 osystems that comply with this specification. End users who purchase a compliant multiprocessor0 h0 Y8 z% a. o1 y5 w3 W
system will be able to run their choice of operating systems.
; V; }: b _6 U: P9 UThe MP specification covers PC/AT-compatible MP platform designs based on Intel processor
& D, W) T- V0 @: `/ u. narchitectures and Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller (APIC) architectures. The term
& E. c2 u/ q6 Q( L/ ]. f“PC/AT-compatible” here refers to the software-visible components of the PC/AT, not to hardware% V# {! \# C- _' S5 o% H
features, such as the bus implementation, that are not visible to software. An implementation of% ]7 L" Q' d: u O4 L
this specification may incorporate one or more industry standard buses, such as ISA, EISA, MCA,
$ _5 x9 g9 G0 r/ G! |PCI, or other OEM-specific buses. |
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