Patent ID: 7412590

Claim:
An information processing apparatus that, when executing a plurality of predetermined units of processing, executes the predetermined units of processing in parallel by switching between contexts associated with the respective predetermined units, the processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of register banks that respectively store the contexts associated with the respective predetermined units of processing; a processor that, in the context switching, grants a right of execution to a context stored in one of the plurality of register banks and executes a unit of processing associated with the context having the right of execution granted; and a save/restore controller that performs saving and restoring wherein the saving executes to read out a context having handed over the right of execution from one of the other register banks than the one register bank storing the context having the right of execution granted and write into a memory that is distinct from the plurality of register banks, and that is accessible by the processor, and the restoring executes to read out a context to be granted the right of execution the next time from the memory and write into the one of the other register banks, the save/restore controller performing the saving and the restoring in parallel with the processor executing the unit of processing associated with the context having the right of execution granted.