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SPSR_EL1: Saved Program Status Register (EL1)

Purpose

Holds the saved process state when an exception is taken to EL1.

Configuration

AArch64 System register SPSR_EL1 bits [31:0] are architecturally mapped to AArch32 System register SPSR_svc[31:0].

Attributes

SPSR_EL1 is a 64-bit register.

Field descriptions

When AArch32 is supported and exception taken from AArch32 state:

6362616059585756555453525150494847464544434241403938373635343332
313029282726252423222120191817161514131211109876543210
RES0PPENDRES0
NZCVQIT[1:0]DITSSBSPANSSILGEIT[7:2]EAIFTM[4]M[3:0]

An exception return from EL1 using AArch64 makes SPSR_EL1 become UNKNOWN.

Bits [63:34]

Reserved, RES0.

PPEND, bit [33]

When FEAT_SEBEP is implemented:

PMU exception pending bit. Set to the value of PSTATE.PPEND on taking an exception to EL1, and conditionally copied to PSTATE.PPEND on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

Bit [32]

Reserved, RES0.

N, bit [31]

Negative Condition flag. Set to the value of PSTATE.N on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.N on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

Z, bit [30]

Zero Condition flag. Set to the value of PSTATE.Z on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.Z on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

C, bit [29]

Carry Condition flag. Set to the value of PSTATE.C on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.C on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

V, bit [28]

Overflow Condition flag. Set to the value of PSTATE.V on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.V on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

Q, bit [27]

Overflow or saturation flag. Set to the value of PSTATE.Q on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.Q on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

IT, bits [15:10, 26:25]

If-Then. Set to the value of PSTATE.IT on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.IT on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

SPSR_EL1.IT must contain a value that is valid for the instruction being returned to.

The IT field is split as follows:

The reset behavior of this field is:

DIT, bit [24]

When FEAT_DIT is implemented:

Data Independent Timing. Set to the value of PSTATE.DIT on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.DIT on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

SSBS, bit [23]

When FEAT_SSBS is implemented:

Speculative Store Bypass. Set to the value of PSTATE.SSBS on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.SSBS on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

PAN, bit [22]

When FEAT_PAN is implemented:

Privileged Access Never. Set to the value of PSTATE.PAN on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.PAN on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

SS, bit [21]

Software Step. Set to the value of PSTATE.SS on taking an exception to EL1, and conditionally copied to PSTATE.SS on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

IL, bit [20]

Illegal Execution state. Set to the value of PSTATE.IL on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.IL on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

GE, bits [19:16]

Greater than or Equal flags. Set to the value of PSTATE.GE on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.GE on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

E, bit [9]

Endianness. Set to the value of PSTATE.E on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.E on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

If the implementation does not support big-endian operation, SPSR_EL1.E is RES0. If the implementation does not support little-endian operation, SPSR_EL1.E is RES1. On executing an exception return operation in EL1, if the implementation does not support big-endian operation at the Exception level being returned to, SPSR_EL1.E is RES0, and if the implementation does not support little-endian operation at the Exception level being returned to, SPSR_EL1.E is RES1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

A, bit [8]

SError exception mask. Set to the value of PSTATE.A on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.A on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

I, bit [7]

IRQ interrupt mask. Set to the value of PSTATE.I on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.I on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

F, bit [6]

FIQ interrupt mask. Set to the value of PSTATE.F on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.F on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

T, bit [5]

T32 Instruction set state. Set to the value of PSTATE.T on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.T on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

M[4], bit [4]

Execution state. Set to 0b1, the value of PSTATE.nRW, on taking an exception to EL1 from AArch32 state, and copied to PSTATE.nRW on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

M[4]Meaning
0b1

AArch32 execution state.

The reset behavior of this field is:

M[3:0], bits [3:0]

AArch32 Mode. Set to the value of PSTATE.M[3:0] on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.M[3:0] on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

M[3:0]Meaning
0b0000

User.

0b0001

FIQ.

0b0010

IRQ.

0b0011

Supervisor.

0b0111

Abort.

0b1011

Undefined.

0b1111

System.

Other values are reserved. If SPSR_EL1.M[3:0] has a Reserved value, or a value for an unimplemented Exception level, executing an exception return operation in EL1 is an illegal return event, as described in 'Illegal return events from AArch64 state'.

The reset behavior of this field is:

When exception taken from AArch64 state:

6362616059585756555453525150494847464544434241403938373635343332
313029282726252423222120191817161514131211109876543210
RES0PACMEXLOCKPPENDPM
NZCVRES0TCODITUAOPANSSILRES0ALLINTSSBSBTYPEDAIFRES0M[4]M[3:0]

An exception return from EL1 using AArch64 makes SPSR_EL1 become UNKNOWN.

Bits [63:36]

Reserved, RES0.

PACM, bit [35]

When FEAT_PAuth_LR is implemented:

PACM. Set to the value of PSTATE.PACM on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.PACM on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

EXLOCK, bit [34]

When FEAT_GCS is implemented:

Exception return state lock. Set to the value of PSTATE.EXLOCK on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.EXLOCK on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

PPEND, bit [33]

When FEAT_SEBEP is implemented:

PMU exception pending bit. Set to the value of PSTATE.PPEND on taking an exception to EL1, and conditionally copied to PSTATE.PPEND on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

PM, bit [32]

When FEAT_EBEP is implemented:

PMU exception mask bit. Set to the value of PSTATE.PM on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.PM on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

N, bit [31]

Negative Condition flag. Set to the value of PSTATE.N on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.N on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

Z, bit [30]

Zero Condition flag. Set to the value of PSTATE.Z on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.Z on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

C, bit [29]

Carry Condition flag. Set to the value of PSTATE.C on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.C on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

V, bit [28]

Overflow Condition flag. Set to the value of PSTATE.V on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.V on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

Bits [27:26]

Reserved, RES0.

TCO, bit [25]

When FEAT_MTE is implemented:

Tag Check Override. Set to the value of PSTATE.TCO on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.TCO on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

When FEAT_MTE2 is not implemented, it is CONSTRAINED UNPREDICTABLE whether this field is RES0 or behaves as if FEAT_MTE2 is implemented.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

DIT, bit [24]

When FEAT_DIT is implemented:

Data Independent Timing. Set to the value of PSTATE.DIT on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.DIT on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

UAO, bit [23]

When FEAT_UAO is implemented:

User Access Override. Set to the value of PSTATE.UAO on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.UAO on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

PAN, bit [22]

When FEAT_PAN is implemented:

Privileged Access Never. Set to the value of PSTATE.PAN on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.PAN on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

SS, bit [21]

Software Step. Set to the value of PSTATE.SS on taking an exception to EL1, and conditionally copied to PSTATE.SS on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

IL, bit [20]

Illegal Execution state. Set to the value of PSTATE.IL on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.IL on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

Bits [19:14]

Reserved, RES0.

ALLINT, bit [13]

When FEAT_NMI is implemented:

All IRQ or FIQ interrupts mask. Set to the value of PSTATE.ALLINT on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.ALLINT on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

SSBS, bit [12]

When FEAT_SSBS is implemented:

Speculative Store Bypass. Set to the value of PSTATE.SSBS on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.SSBS on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

BTYPE, bits [11:10]

When FEAT_BTI is implemented:

Branch Type Indicator. Set to the value of PSTATE.BTYPE on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.BTYPE on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:



Otherwise:

Reserved, RES0.

D, bit [9]

Debug exception mask. Set to the value of PSTATE.D on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.D on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

A, bit [8]

SError exception mask. Set to the value of PSTATE.A on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.A on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

I, bit [7]

IRQ interrupt mask. Set to the value of PSTATE.I on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.I on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

F, bit [6]

FIQ interrupt mask. Set to the value of PSTATE.F on taking an exception to EL1, and copied to PSTATE.F on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

The reset behavior of this field is:

Bit [5]

Reserved, RES0.

M[4], bit [4]

Execution state. Set to 0b0, the value of PSTATE.nRW, on taking an exception to EL1 from AArch64 state, and copied to PSTATE.nRW on executing an exception return operation in EL1.

M[4]Meaning
0b0

AArch64 execution state.

The reset behavior of this field is:

M[3:0], bits [3:0]

AArch64 Exception level and selected Stack Pointer.

M[3:0]Meaning
0b0000

EL0.

0b0100

EL1 with SP_EL0 (ELt).

0b0101

EL1 with SP_EL1 (EL1h).

Other values are reserved. If SPSR_EL1.M[3:0] has a Reserved value, or a value for an unimplemented Exception level, executing an exception return operation in EL1 is an illegal return event, as described in 'Illegal return events from AArch64 state'.

The bits in this field are interpreted as follows:

The reset behavior of this field is:

Accessing SPSR_EL1

When the Effective value of HCR_EL2.E2H is 1, without explicit synchronization, access from EL3 using the mnemonic SPSR_EL1 or SPSR_EL12 are not guaranteed to be ordered with respect to accesses using the other mnemonic.

Accesses to this register use the following encodings in the System register encoding space:

MRS <Xt>, SPSR_EL1

op0op1CRnCRmop2
0b110b0000b01000b00000b000

if PSTATE.EL == EL0 then UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL1 then if EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() == '011' then AArch64.SystemAccessTrap(EL2, 0x18); elsif EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() == '111' then X[t, 64] = NVMem[0x160]; else X[t, 64] = SPSR_EL1; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL2 then if ELIsInHost(EL2) then X[t, 64] = SPSR_EL2; else X[t, 64] = SPSR_EL1; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL3 then X[t, 64] = SPSR_EL1;

MSR SPSR_EL1, <Xt>

op0op1CRnCRmop2
0b110b0000b01000b00000b000

if PSTATE.EL == EL0 then UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL1 then if IsFeatureImplemented(FEAT_GCS) && GetCurrentEXLOCKEN() && !Halted() && PSTATE.EXLOCK == '1' && !(EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() IN {'x11'}) then EXLOCKException(); elsif EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() == '011' then AArch64.SystemAccessTrap(EL2, 0x18); elsif EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() == '111' then NVMem[0x160] = X[t, 64]; else SPSR_EL1 = X[t, 64]; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL2 then if IsFeatureImplemented(FEAT_GCS) && GetCurrentEXLOCKEN() && !Halted() && PSTATE.EXLOCK == '1' && ELIsInHost(EL2) then EXLOCKException(); elsif ELIsInHost(EL2) then SPSR_EL2 = X[t, 64]; else SPSR_EL1 = X[t, 64]; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL3 then SPSR_EL1 = X[t, 64];

MRS <Xt>, SPSR_EL12

op0op1CRnCRmop2
0b110b1010b01000b00000b000

if PSTATE.EL == EL0 then UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL1 then if EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() == '101' then X[t, 64] = NVMem[0x160]; elsif EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() IN {'xx1'} then AArch64.SystemAccessTrap(EL2, 0x18); else UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL2 then if ELIsInHost(EL2) then X[t, 64] = SPSR_EL1; else UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL3 then if ELIsInHost(EL2) then X[t, 64] = SPSR_EL1; else UNDEFINED;

MSR SPSR_EL12, <Xt>

op0op1CRnCRmop2
0b110b1010b01000b00000b000

if PSTATE.EL == EL0 then UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL1 then if EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() == '101' then NVMem[0x160] = X[t, 64]; elsif EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() IN {'xx1'} then AArch64.SystemAccessTrap(EL2, 0x18); else UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL2 then if ELIsInHost(EL2) then SPSR_EL1 = X[t, 64]; else UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL3 then if ELIsInHost(EL2) then SPSR_EL1 = X[t, 64]; else UNDEFINED;

When FEAT_VHE is implemented

MRS <Xt>, SPSR_EL2

op0op1CRnCRmop2
0b110b1000b01000b00000b000

if PSTATE.EL == EL0 then UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL1 then if EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() IN {'1x1'} then X[t, 64] = SPSR_EL1; elsif EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() IN {'xx1'} then AArch64.SystemAccessTrap(EL2, 0x18); else UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL2 then X[t, 64] = SPSR_EL2; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL3 then X[t, 64] = SPSR_EL2;

When FEAT_VHE is implemented

MSR SPSR_EL2, <Xt>

op0op1CRnCRmop2
0b110b1000b01000b00000b000

if PSTATE.EL == EL0 then UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL1 then if IsFeatureImplemented(FEAT_GCS) && GetCurrentEXLOCKEN() && !Halted() && PSTATE.EXLOCK == '1' && EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() IN {'xx1'} then EXLOCKException(); elsif EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() IN {'1x1'} then SPSR_EL1 = X[t, 64]; elsif EffectiveHCR_EL2_NVx() IN {'xx1'} then AArch64.SystemAccessTrap(EL2, 0x18); else UNDEFINED; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL2 then if IsFeatureImplemented(FEAT_GCS) && GetCurrentEXLOCKEN() && !Halted() && PSTATE.EXLOCK == '1' then EXLOCKException(); else SPSR_EL2 = X[t, 64]; elsif PSTATE.EL == EL3 then SPSR_EL2 = X[t, 64];