Device drivers

A device driver provides a standardized interface for software applications to interact with a category of peripheral devices. This avoids the need for the developer of each application to understand and implement all of the technical details required for the proper operation of each type of device. Most device drivers allow multiple simultaneously executing applications to interact with multiple instances of associated peripherals in a secure and efficient manner.

At the lowest level of interaction, device driver code provides software instructions that manage communication interactions with the peripheral, including handling interrupts generated by device service requests. A device driver controls the operation of hardware resources provided by the processor, the peripheral device, and by other system components such as the processor chipset.

In computer systems supporting privileged execution modes, device drivers usually operate at an elevated privilege level...