Patent ID: 7916792

Claim:
An apparatus for Variable Length Decoder (VLD) buffer management for demodulating a variable length coded data from a transmitter side into a bitstream format and variable length decoding the data at a VLD, the apparatus comprising: a first and a second buffer; and a buffer controller configured to read an input bitstream by byte unit, store the bitstream in the first buffer, store at least a part of a bitstream that is stored in the first buffer in the second buffer, read from the second buffer a bitstream with a bit length required of the VLD by bit unit, and output the read bitstream to the VLD, wherein the buffer controller is configured to indicate, with a top pointer, a next bit position to be read in the first and second buffers, respectively, and increase the top pointer of the corresponding buffer as much as a bit length being read, read the bitstream from the first buffer and store the read bitstream in the second buffer, and update the top pointer of each of the first and second buffers if the top pointer of the second buffer is greater than a predetermined threshold pointer, wherein the second buffer is connected between the first buffer and the VLD, and wherein the predetermined threshold pointer indicates a bit position being shorter than a last bit position of the second buffer.