07-27-2002
All OSes can can process 32-bit and 64-bit numbers (actually, even longer ones). And, if the hardware supports, say, 64-bit integers natively, then it is possible for a compiler to support those instructions on any OS.
But, what one usually means by a "64-bit OS" is that the OS itself exploits the newer features of a 64-bit processor. That is, if native data moves are in 64-bit chunks, then the OS moves data that way. If a huge amount of memory can be addressed, then the OS can use it. If device drivers can be faster because of higher bandwidth, then the OS has such drivers. And so on.
But, even on such an OS, whether applications use the "64-bit features" is entirely up to the design of the program and/or the compiler that's generating the code.
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LEARN ABOUT OPENSOLARIS
id32_free
id32_alloc(9F) Kernel Functions for Drivers id32_alloc(9F)
NAME
id32_alloc, id32_free, id32_lookup - 32-bit driver ID management routines
SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/ddi.h>
#include <sys/id32.h>
uint32_t id32_alloc(void *ptr, int flag);
void id32_free(uint32_t token);
void *id32_lookup(uint32_t token);
INTERFACE LEVEL
Solaris architecture specific (Solaris DDI).
PARAMETERS
ptr any valid 32- or 64-bit pointer
flag determines whether caller can sleep for memory (see kmem_alloc(9F) for a description)
DESCRIPTION
These routines were originally developed so that device drivers could manage 64-bit pointers on devices that save space only for 32-bit
pointers.
Many device drivers need to pass a 32-bit value to the hardware when attempting I/O. Later, when that I/O completes, the only way the
driver has to identify the request that generated that I/O is via a "token". When the I/O is initiated, the driver passes this token to the
hardware. When the I/O completes the hardware passes back this 32-bit token.
Before Solaris supported 64-bit pointers, device drivers just passed a raw 32-bit pointer to the hardware. When pointers grew to be 64 bits
this was no longer possible. The id32_*() routines were created to help drivers translate between 64-bit pointers and a 32-bit token.
Given a 32- or 64-bit pointer, the routine id32_alloc() allocates a 32-bit token, returning 0 if KM_NOSLEEP was specified and memory could
not be allocated. The allocated token is passed back to id32_lookup() to obtain the original 32- or 64-bit pointer.
The routine id32_free() is used to free an allocated token. Once id32_free() is called, the supplied token is no longer valid.
Note that these routines have some degree of error checking. This is done so that an invalid token passed to id32_lookup() will not be
accepted as valid. When id32_lookup() detects an invalid token it returns NULL. Calling routines should check for this return value so that
they do not try to dereference a NULL pointer.
CONTEXT
These functions can be called from user or interrupt context. The routine id32_alloc() should not be called from interrupt context when the
KM_SLEEP flag is passed in. All other routines can be called from interrupt or kernel context.
SEE ALSO
kmem_alloc(9F)
Writing Device Drivers
SunOS 5.11 12 Dec 2001 id32_alloc(9F)