Patent ID: 6804758
Filing Date: 2004-10-12
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method for adaptive arbitration of requests for accessing a memory unit in a multi-stage pipeline engine that includes a plurality of request queues corresponding to the stages of the pipeline engine, comprising the steps of:(a) assigning each of the request queues to one of a high-priority group and a low-priority group in accordance with an operating state of the memory unit including a-1 detecting whether the memory unit is in a memory bound state; and a-2 when the memory unit is in the memory bound state, detecting a number of requests in each of the request queues, wherein the request queues that have the number of requests therein greater than a predetermined threshold are assigned to the high-priority group, and the request queues that have the number of requests therein not greater than the predetermined threshold are assigned to the low- priority group; and (b) processing the request queues in the high-priority group prior to the request queues in the low-priority group.