Patent ID: 7920584

Claim:
A data processing system comprising: (i) a main processor configured to perform a plurality of data processing tasks; (ii) a data engine having a data engine core configured to perform a number of said plurality of data processing tasks on behalf of said main processor; (iii) a data stream processing unit providing a data communication path between said main processing unit and said data engine core, said data stream processing unit having: (a) a control interface configured to receive from said data engine core at least one command; and (b) a data stream controller configured to receive at least one input data stream and to perform at least one operation on said at least one input data stream to generate at least one output data stream comprising a sequence of data elements; wherein said data stream processing unit is responsive to said at least one command from said data engine core to control said data stream controller to perform said at least one operation, and said data stream processing unit is configured to maintain management information comprising at least one reference position in said at least one input data stream, said data stream processing unit implementing the at least one command in dependence upon said at least one reference position, wherein said data stream controller is configurable by at least one of said data engine and said main processor with configuration information.