Patent ID: 8615614

Claim:
In a data processing system having a direct memory access (DMA) unit coupled to a memory, the method comprising: generating, by a first software process of the data processing system, a source partition descriptor for a DMA job which requires access to a first partition of the memory which is assigned to a second software process of the data processing system and not assigned to the first software process, wherein the source partition descriptor comprises a partition identifier which identifies the first partition of the memory; receiving, by the DMA unit, the source partition descriptor for the DMA job; and generating, by the DMA unit, a destination partition descriptor for the DMA job, wherein the generating the destination partition descriptor comprises: translating, by the DMA unit, the partition identifier to a buffer pool identifier which identifies a physical address within the first partition of the memory which is assigned to the second software process; and storing the buffer pool identifier in the destination partition descriptor, wherein the DMA job requires transfer of message data from a second partition of memory which is assigned to the first software process and not assigned to the second software process to the second partition of memory, the method further comprising: transferring, by the DMA unit, the message data from the second partition to the first partition at the physical address identified by the buffer pool identifier.