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MultiProcessor Specification 1.4
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The MultiProcessor Specification, hereafter known as the “MP specification,” defines an
3 ?1 n" a& a7 B- Y; m" i: cenhancement to the standard to which PC manufacturers design DOS-compatible systems.3 k7 b* \6 q! U
MP-capable operating systems will be able to run without special customization on multiprocessor
! ~+ U( A/ {' ~. ]systems that comply with this specification. End users who purchase a compliant multiprocessor
1 e, O! j* n8 psystem will be able to run their choice of operating systems.
' @3 Q3 Y5 x' _* L) bThe MP specification covers PC/AT-compatible MP platform designs based on Intel processor' c+ m5 n$ k% C4 j& y/ u
architectures and Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller (APIC) architectures. The term3 Y; I; {3 v7 M4 H. D6 k
“PC/AT-compatible” here refers to the software-visible components of the PC/AT, not to hardware
1 O( l2 O, m( e, g. }0 Ofeatures, such as the bus implementation, that are not visible to software. An implementation of6 N3 w- [+ X, t$ L
this specification may incorporate one or more industry standard buses, such as ISA, EISA, MCA,
1 b0 D# y" |5 |; D; _4 C) L2 u5 dPCI, or other OEM-specific buses. |
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