Definitions for "Hardware interrupt"
Keywords:  interrupt, cpu, handler, irq, keystroke
An interrupt or request for service generated by a hardware device such as a keystroke from the keyboard or a tick from the clock. because the processor may receive several such signals simultaneously, hardware interrupts are usually assigned a priority level, and processed according to that priority.
Hardware interrupt request. in_irq() returns true in a hardware interrupt handler (it also returns true when interrupts are blocked).
a capability where a hardware event causes the software to stop whatever it is doing and to be redirected to a function to handle the interrupt