Page Protection , rings 0-4, and Supervisor/User mode
"sting sting" <[email protected]> Tue, 26 Apr 2005 09:55:03 +0300
| Newsgroups | gmane.linux.redhat.ia64.general |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
Hello, I have a little question regarding Page Protection mechanism in IA-64. The question deals with processor architecture: As I know , in IA-32 there is the known division into 4 rings: ring 0 - for the kernel /Operating System ring 1,2 - usually unused (in the past was used only by OS/2 if I am not wrong; and now used in Xen) ring 3 - applications. according to IA32 Manual (vol 3 , System Programming Guide) "If the processor is currently operating at a CPL of 0, 1, or 2, it is in supervisor mode; if it is operating at a CPL of 3, it is in user mode. When the processor is in supervisor mode, it can access all pages; when in user mode, it can access only user-level pages." (let's ignore the WP flag for now). Now: I had tried to see if in IA-64 we have the same structure of four rings,and the same supervisor mode/user mode. I had looked at Intel Itanium Architecture Software Developer Manual. (Vol 2: System Architecture). There is no occurrence for the phrase "supervisor mode". I saw that there is something which is called "protection keys" but I do not know if it is relevant. There is a paragraph in this manual titled "Privilege levels" which says there are 4 privilege levels (0-3) but it talks about instructions and registers permissions and not about memory. My question is : In the aspect of access to pages in rings 0-3, is IA-64 the same as IA-32 ? I mean : do we have access to all pages when operating in ring 0-2 and when operating in ring 3 we can access only user-level pages? Any idea? (a pointer to any info about this will be helpful) Regards, Sting _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/