Patent ID: 7707216

Claim:
For use in a data processing system, a data sorting apparatus comprising: a storage sorter capable of storing and sorting a data set according to a defined criteria, the storage sorter comprising a plurality of processing elements, wherein each of said processing elements comprises a plurality of inputs and a plurality of outputs, wherein a first output of a first processing element transmits a first value to a first input of a second processing element, a second output of the first processing element transmits a second value to a second input of the second processing element, a first output of the second processing element transmits a third value to a first input of the first processing element; and a query mechanism, comprising a corresponding plurality of comparison blocks, wherein each of said comparison blocks is capable of receiving a plurality of intermediate sorted data values from a corresponding processing element of said storage sorter, comparing said intermediate sorted data values to at least one key value, and extracting a data value from said corresponding processing element of said storage sorter in accordance with said comparison.