Patent ID: 7171537

Claim:
A computer system including memory and configured to operate as an array-access system that: A) so associates with each base-array index in a sequence of a plurality thereof a respective subarray size such that not all such subarray sizes are equal and thereby associates with each base-array index a cumulative base value equal to the sum of the subarray sizes associated with all preceding base-array indexes; and B) responds to an array-access request, which specifies an array index selected from a sequence of composite-index values and includes an array identifier that identifies an array located in the memory, by: i) treating the array thereby identified as a composite array that includes a base array; ii) inferring the included base array's location from the array-access request; iii) treating the array index thereby specified as a composite-array index; iv) identifying within the sequence of base-array indexes the last base-array index thereof whose cumulative base value is less than or equal to the number of composite-index values that precede the specified composite-array index in the sequence thereof; and v) in the case of at least some array-access requests, accessing a constituent array located in the memory and identified by the contents of the included base array's base-array element associated with that base-array index.