Patent ID: 7870309

Claim:
A method, in a data processing system, for programming a direct memory access engine operating as a multithreaded processor, the method comprising: receiving, from a host processor, a plurality of programs in either a local storage or a memory associated with the direct memory access engine; receiving a request, from the host processor, in the direct memory access engine, to execute the plurality of programs located in either the local storage or the memory using a set of parameters; executing, by the direct memory access engine and without intervention by a host processor, two or more of the plurality of programs; and as each of the two or more of the plurality of programs completes execution, sending, by the direct memory access engine, a completion notification to the host processor that indicates that the program has completed execution; wherein the method for programming the direct memory access engine further comprises: receiving the set of parameters from the host processor that initializes registers within the direct memory access engine with a pointer to a data structure and a first location pointer, wherein the pointer to the data structure points to at least one of a local storage address in the local storage or an effective address in the memory and wherein the first location pointer points to at least one of the local storage address in a local storage or an effective address in the memory; setting a current pointer of data that is to be accessed equal to the pointer to the data structure; setting an intended location for the data equal to the first location pointer; and executing one of a plurality of instructions on the data using the current pointer and the intended location pointer.