diff -r 7f99fdefa615 -r adc19edfa256 src/base/pollevent.cc
--- a/src/base/pollevent.cc	Fri Nov 02 13:12:59 2012 -0400
+++ b/src/base/pollevent.cc	Fri Nov 02 13:12:59 2012 -0400
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 
 #include "base/misc.hh"
 #include "base/pollevent.hh"
+#include "base/signal.hh"
 #include "base/types.hh"
 #include "sim/async.hh"
 #include "sim/core.hh"
@@ -231,14 +232,14 @@
     sigemptyset(&act.sa_mask);
     act.sa_flags = SA_RESTART;
 
-    if (sigaction(SIGIO, &act, &oldio) == -1)
+    if (sigaction(Signal::PollQueueIO, &act, &oldio) == -1)
         panic("could not do sigaction");
 
     act.sa_handler = handleALRM;
     sigemptyset(&act.sa_mask);
     act.sa_flags = SA_RESTART;
 
-    if (sigaction(SIGALRM, &act, &oldalrm) == -1)
+    if (sigaction(Signal::PollQueueAlarm, &act, &oldalrm) == -1)
         panic("could not do sigaction");
 
     alarm(1);
@@ -249,17 +250,17 @@
 void
 PollQueue::removeHandler()
 {
-    if (sigaction(SIGIO, &oldio, NULL) == -1)
+    if (sigaction(Signal::PollQueueIO, &oldio, NULL) == -1)
         panic("could not remove handler");
 
-    if (sigaction(SIGIO, &oldalrm, NULL) == -1)
+    if (sigaction(Signal::PollQueueAlarm, &oldalrm, NULL) == -1)
         panic("could not remove handler");
 }
 
 void
 PollQueue::handleIO(int sig)
 {
-    if (sig != SIGIO)
+    if (sig != Signal::PollQueueIO)
         panic("Wrong Handler");
 
     async_event = true;
diff -r 7f99fdefa615 -r adc19edfa256 src/base/signal.hh
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/src/base/signal.hh	Fri Nov 02 13:12:59 2012 -0400
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2012 ARM Limited
+ * All rights reserved
+ *
+ * The license below extends only to copyright in the software and shall
+ * not be construed as granting a license to any other intellectual
+ * property including but not limited to intellectual property relating
+ * to a hardware implementation of the functionality of the software
+ * licensed hereunder.  You may use the software subject to the license
+ * terms below provided that you ensure that this notice is replicated
+ * unmodified and in its entirety in all distributions of the software,
+ * modified or unmodified, in source code or in binary form.
+ *
+ * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
+ * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
+ * met: redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
+ * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer;
+ * redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
+ * notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
+ * documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution;
+ * neither the name of the copyright holders nor the names of its
+ * contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
+ * this software without specific prior written permission.
+ *
+ * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
+ * "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+ * LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
+ * A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
+ * OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
+ * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
+ * LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
+ * DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
+ * THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
+ * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
+ * OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
+ *
+ * Authors: Andreas Sandberg
+ */
+
+#ifndef __BASE_SIGNALS_HH__
+#define __BASE_SIGNALS_HH__
+
+#include <csignal>
+
+/**
+ * POSIX signals used by gem5
+ *
+ * This name space defines a set of constants listing signals used
+ * internally by gem5.
+ *
+ * @note Some of the signals listed in this file have a special
+ * meaning in the POSIX standard, which means that they are <i>not</i>
+ * configurable.
+ *
+ * @see initSignals(), and PollQueue
+ */
+namespace Signal {
+
+/** @{ */
+/** Print out cycle number on abort */
+static const int BaseAbort = SIGABRT;
+/** We use SIGTRAP sometimes for debugging */
+static const int BaseDebugTrap = SIGTRAP;
+/** Signal to trigger a dump and reset of intermediate statistics. */
+static const int BaseDumpResetStats = SIGUSR2;
+/** Signal to trigger a dump of intermediate statistics. */
+static const int BaseDumpStats = SIGUSR1;
+/**
+ * Floating point exceptions may happen on misspeculated paths, so
+ * ignore them.
+ */
+static const int BaseFPException = SIGFPE;
+/** Exit cleanly on Interrupt (Ctrl-C) */
+static const int BaseInterrupt = SIGINT;
+/** @} */
+
+/** @{ */
+/** Alarm signal is used by the PollQueue. */
+static const int PollQueueAlarm = SIGALRM;
+/** Signal used to trigger PollQueue event processing */
+static const int PollQueueIO = SIGIO;
+/** @} */
+
+}
+
+#endif
diff -r 7f99fdefa615 -r adc19edfa256 src/sim/init.cc
--- a/src/sim/init.cc	Fri Nov 02 13:12:59 2012 -0400
+++ b/src/sim/init.cc	Fri Nov 02 13:12:59 2012 -0400
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
 
 #include "base/cprintf.hh"
 #include "base/misc.hh"
+#include "base/signal.hh"
 #include "base/types.hh"
 #include "sim/async.hh"
 #include "sim/core.hh"
@@ -102,22 +103,22 @@
 {
     // Floating point exceptions may happen on misspeculated paths, so
     // ignore them
-    signal(SIGFPE, SIG_IGN);
+    signal(Signal::BaseFPException, SIG_IGN);
 
     // We use SIGTRAP sometimes for debugging
-    signal(SIGTRAP, SIG_IGN);
+    signal(Signal::BaseDebugTrap, SIG_IGN);
 
     // Dump intermediate stats
-    signal(SIGUSR1, dumpStatsHandler);
+    signal(Signal::BaseDumpStats, dumpStatsHandler);
 
     // Dump intermediate stats and reset them
-    signal(SIGUSR2, dumprstStatsHandler);
+    signal(Signal::BaseDumpResetStats, dumprstStatsHandler);
 
     // Exit cleanly on Interrupt (Ctrl-C)
-    signal(SIGINT, exitNowHandler);
+    signal(Signal::BaseInterrupt, exitNowHandler);
 
     // Print out cycle number on abort
-    signal(SIGABRT, abortHandler);
+    signal(Signal::BaseAbort, abortHandler);
 }
 
 // The python library is totally messed up with respect to constness,