Patent ID: 8234320

Claim:
A method of determining a minimum and a next-to-minimum value from an original group of values, said method comprising: in a first stage, dividing said group of values into subgroups of values; for each said subgroup: determining minimum and next-to-minimum values in said subgroup, and using bitwise comparators to determine which of said minimum and next-to-minimum values of said subgroup is said minimum value of said subgroup and which of said minimum and next-to-minimum values of said subgroup is said next-to-minimum value of said subgroup; aggregating said determined minimum and next-to-minimum values of said subgroup into a new group; and repeating, in one or more subsequent stages, said determining, said using bitwise comparators and said aggregating until said new group includes only the minimum value and the next-to-minimum value from said original group; wherein: said using bitwise comparators comprises: comparing bits of said minimum and next-to-minimum values of said subgroup starting at most significant bits and proceeding bitwise through bits of lesser significance until corresponding bits of a certain significance are different; and while said corresponding bits of said certain significance are identical, propagating said identical bits, from a current stage to a subsequent stage, as bits of said minimum value and said next-to-minimum value of said subgroup, in bitwise fashion prior to completing determination of said minimum value and said next-to-minimum value of said subgroup.