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Linux Systems Field Manual

Architecture Layer

Imported from _research/manual-study-linux/architecture-layer.md.

Architecture Layer

Status: planned for true-full deepening.

This chapter covers the architecture-specific layer that connects generic Linux to real CPU entry, interrupts, page faults, and boot code. The first deep target is x86 because the clean source tree has a mature x86 implementation and it is the most common learning target.

True-Full Checklist

  • Source surface: arch/x86/kernel/head64.c, arch/x86/entry/common.c, arch/x86/mm/fault.c, and one comparison path such as arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S.
  • Entry points: early boot, syscall entry, exception entry, interrupt entry, and page fault handoff.
  • Core data structures: pt_regs, trap state, CPU-local state, page-table architecture glue, and entry-stack state.
  • Main control flows: boot handoff, syscall dispatch, return to user mode, page fault classification, interrupt handoff, and architecture-to-generic kernel transfer.
  • Concurrency model: preemption state, interrupt state, per-CPU data, entry ordering, and speculation or mitigation boundaries.
  • Resource model: CPU-local stacks, page tables, exception tables, and early memory assumptions.
  • Extension points: architecture hooks, syscall tables, exception handlers, paravirt hooks, and CPU feature setup.
  • Rust translation: architecture traits, unsafe entry veneers, typed register frames, and generic-kernel handoff contracts.
  • AI-native translation: runtime portability boundaries and machine-specific capability discovery.
  • Evidence: exact source-note links and line ranges.

Current Work Items

The strict ledger tracks this chapter under arch. All rows are currently planned; the next implementation pass should source-note x86 boot, x86 entry, x86 fault handling, and one comparison architecture path.