Patent ID: 7734456

Claim:
A data processing apparatus, comprising: a data storage unit that stores a plurality of data; a data processing unit that performs a processing for a data among the plurality of data and computes an importance value of the data for assigning a subsequent processing priority to the data; and an important component selection unit having a plurality of registers for storing a priority list, each register storing a set of an identifier indicating one of the data stored in the data storage unit and the importance value of the indicated data; wherein the important component selection unit outputs one of the identifiers whose corresponding importance value is the highest in the importance values stored in the registers; wherein the data processing unit performs: processing for the data indicated by the output of the important component selection unit, updating data stored in the data storage unit whose values are changed by the processing, computing the importance value of the each updated data, and transmitting the set of the importance value and corresponding identifier of the each updated data to the important component selection unit; and wherein the important component selection unit updates the priority list to reflect the transmitted set of the importance value and identifier, wherein, if the same identifier already exists in the priority list, the important component selection unit, comparing two importance values having the same identifier, excludes the lower one from the priority list.