Patent ID: 6961820

Claim:
A computer system, comprising: a processor issuing a data request for streaming data, the streaming data having two or more streaming data portions; a system memory in communication with the processor, the system memory having a specific area for storing the streaming data; a cache coupled to the processor, the cache having a predefined area locked for the streaming data; and a cache controller coupled to the cache and in communication with both the processor and the system memory, the cache controller being able to: divide the streaming data into two or more data portions; determine a predefined area of the cache to store the two or more streaming data portions from the specific area of the system memory when the at least one of the two or more streaming data portions is not found in the predefined area of the cache; store a first streaming data portion in the predefined area; transmit the first streaming data portion from the cache to the processor before updating the locked portion of the cache; and in response to issuing a second data request for non-streaming data before the second streaming data portion is transmitted to the locked portion, optionally transmit non-streaming data from the system memory to a second portion of the cache before updating the locked portion with the next streaming data portion.