Patent ID: 7133950

Claim:
A method for arbitrating requests in a multi-core multi-thread processor, comprising: issuing a signal indicating arbitration requests to be performed during a cycle for a respective input unit; prioritizing the signal from the respective input unit relative to additional signals for arbitration requests during the cycle from additional input units; in parallel with the prioritizing, associating one of a plurality of outputs with the respective input unit for one of the arbitration requests, the associating including, determining if the one of the plurality of outputs was previously allocated; and if the one of the plurality of outputs was previously allocated, the method includes nullifying the association of the one of the plurality of outputs with the respective input; repeating the associating for remaining arbitration requests; identifying granted arbitration requests for the respective input unit; selecting one of the granted arbitration requests; and de-prioritizing the signal from the respective input unit relative to additional signals from the additional input units.