The Instruction Set Architecture, or ISA, is defined as that part of the processor architecture related to programming, including the native data types, instructions, registers, addressing modes, memory architecture, interrupt and exception handling, and external IO. With the exception of some small deviations and differences in terminology, all Intel and AMD x86 processors share a common ISA. This book focuses on those shared attributes (it does not cover those areas where the two companies have chosen widely divergent solutions which, by definition, fall outside of the ISA specification). If you re looking for a comprehensive book designed to bootstrap you up quickly on virtually all aspects of the x86 32/64-bit Instruction Set Architecture (ISA), we respectfully ask you to consider this book.

Essential topics covered include:

Basic Terms and Concepts
Operating Mode/SubMode Introduction
A (very) Brief History
State After Reset
Intro to the IA-32 Ecosystem
Instruction Set Expansion
32-bit Machine Language Instruction Format
Real Mode (8086 Emulation)
Legacy x87 FP Support
Introduction to Multitasking
Multitasking-Related Issues
Summary of the Protection Mechanisms
Protected Mode Memory Addressing
Code, Calls and Privilege Checks
Data and Stack Segments
IA-32 Address Translation Mechanisms
Memory Type Configuration
Task Switching
Protected Mode Interrupts and Exceptions
Virtual 8086 Mode
The MMX Facilities
The SSE Facilities
IA-32e OS Environment
IA-32e Address Translation
Compatibility Mode
64-bit Register Overview
64-bit Operands and Addressing
64-bit Machine Language Instruction Format
64-bit Odds and Ends
Transitioning to Protected Mode
Transitioning to IA-32e Mode
Introduction to Virtualization Technology
System Management Mode (SMM)
Machine Check Architecture (MCA)
The Local and IO APICs

About the Author:

Tom Shanley, President of MindShare, Inc., applied his 40 years of hardware and software experience with Intel processors (from the 4004 and 8008 through the Nehalem-based processors of today) to this ambitious undertaking. The material organization is derived from those used to train thousands of software and hardware designers at virtually all of the world s leading high-tech companies.

MindShare's training courses on this topic include:
x86 LIVE COURSES: