Patent ID: 7165257

Claim:
A logic system in a data packet processor for selecting and releasing a context among a plurality of such contexts, the selected and released context dedicated for enabling processing of interrupt service routines corresponding to interrupts generated in data packet processing and pending for service, the system comprising: logic configured to: determine control status of all of the contexts; determine if a context is idle or not; select a context; and release the selected context; wherein in response to determining that none of the plurality of contexts are owned by an entity responsible for packet processing (SPU) and that at least one of the contexts is idle, the logic is configured to trigger immediate selection and release of one of the at least one idle contexts to the entity responsible for packet processing upon determination that none of the contexts are owned by the entity responsible for packet processing and that there are no idle contexts, aborts pre-loading of a given context of the contexts to render the given context idle.