Interrupt-Driven I/O and Direct Memory Access (DMA) in Computer Systems

Academic Session 2025-26
ODD Semester Jul-Dec 2025

UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE &
ENGINEERING
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
CSE/IT/ THIRD SEMESTER
COMPUTER ORGANIZATION & ARCHITECTURE
(24CST-201/24ITT-201)
Unit No. 3 Chapter No. 3.1 Lecture No. 3.1.4
Topic : Interrupt driven I/O, DMA
Er. Shikha Atwal (E11186) Assistant Professor

, Learning Objectives
1




1. To understand the concept and working of interrupt-
driven I/O, where the CPU is notified only when the I/O
device is ready.
2. To learn how DMA enables direct data transfer between
memory and I/O devices without continuous CPU
involvement.
3. To analyze the advantages, limitations, and use cases of
both interrupt-driven I/O and DMA in improving system
performance and efficiency.

, Content
2




1. Interrupt-Driven I/O
2. Basic Operations of Interrupt
3. Interrupt Processing
4. Direct Memory Access (DMA)
5. DMA Controller
6. DMA Transfer
7. DMA Operations