Patent ID: 8234489

Claim:
A processor for processing data comprising: a plurality of general purpose registers for storing data for processing by said processor; a set of system configuration registers for storing data indicative of a current configuration of said processor; said set of system configuration registers being located in a register file; and at least some of said set of system configuration registers having a shadow register for storing a duplicate value remote from said register file, said shadow register being associated with a component for which said shadow register stores a configuration value, wherein said register file further comprises a plurality of update storage locations corresponding to said system configuration registers that have shadow registers for storing an update value indicative of whether said corresponding shadow registers store a valid value and said processor is responsive to a write request to one of said system configuration registers having one of said update storage locations to update said system configuration register in said register file and to update said update storage location with a value indicating said shadow register does not currently store said valid value.