An interrupt request is a hardware signal sent to the processor that temporarily stops a running program and allows to handle a hardware event.
In an IBM PC compatible personal computer, an interrupt request (or IRQ) is a hardware signal sent to the processor that temporarily stops a running program and allows a special program, an interrupt handler, to run instead. Interrupts are used to handle such events as data receipt from a modem or network, or a key press or mouse movement. The interrupt request level (IRQL) is the priority of an interrupt request.
