Technical Reference Guide
1.5 NOTATIONAL CONVENTIONS
The notational guidelines used in this guide are described in the following subsections.
1.5.1 VALUES
Hexadecimal values are indicated by a numerical or alpha-numerical value followed by the letter
“h.” Binary values are indicated by a value of ones and zeros followed by the letter “b.”
Numerical values that have no succeeding letter can be assumed to be decimal unless otherwise
stated.
1.5.2 RANGES
Ranges or limits for a parameter are shown using the following methods:
Example A: Bits <7..4> = bits 7, 6, 5, and 4.
Example B: IRQ3-7, 9 = IRQ signals 3 through 7, and IRQ signal 9
1.5.3 REGISTER NOTATION AND USAGE
This guide uses standard Intel naming conventions in discussing the microprocessor’s (CPU)
internal registers. Registers that are accessed through programmable I/O using an indexing
scheme are indicated using the following format:
03C5.17h
Index port
Data port
In the example above, register 03C5.17h is accessed by writing the index port value 17h to the
index address (03C4h), followed by a write to or a read from port 03C5h.
1.5.4 BIT NOTATION AND BYTE VALUES
Bit designations are labeled between brackets (i.e., “bit <0 >”). Binary values are shown with the
most significant bit (MSb) on the far left, least significant bit (LSb) at the far right. Byte values in
hexadecimal are also shown with the MSB on the left, LSB on the right.
Compaq Evo and Workstation Personal Computers
Featuring the Intel Pentium 4 Processor
Second Edition – January 2003
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