Patent ID: 6918119

Claim:
A method of operating a buffer memory, the buffer having a plurality of entries, the entries being subject to processing by processes, said method comprising: generating an active bit string for each of at least one process of said processes, wherein the active bit string comprises status information for the entries, and wherein the status information of an entry of said entries indicates readiness of the entry for further processing by said at least one process; and said generating comprises computing the status information by (i) comparing an entry index of the entry to an out-pointer to determine whether the entry index is greater than or equal to the out-pointer, (ii) comparing the entry index of the entry to an in-pointer to determine whether the entry index is less than the in-pointer; (iii) determining whether a buffer wrap around in said buffer has occurred, and one of the comparing (i) and the comparing (ii) is true, and if so, setting the status information of the entry to a value which indicates said readiness of the entry for further processing by the at least one process; and (iv) determining whether the comparing (i) and the comparing (ii) are both true, and if so, setting the status information of the entry to a value which indicates said readiness of the entry for further processing by the at least one process.