Patent ID: 7512945

Claim:
A processor comprising: a command first-in-first-out (FIFO) configured to store commands, the commands comprising a first command associated with a first context; cores comprising a first core and a second core; same-context-command FIFOs configured to store commands of a same context, the same-context-command FIFOs comprising a first same-context-command FIFO coupled to the first core and a second same-context-command FIFO coupled to the second core; and a scheduler configured to receive the first command from the command FIFO and to: if a first core is idle, determine whether a second core is idle; if the second core is not idle and the second core is processing a second command associated with a second context, determine whether the second context is the same as the first context; and if the second context is the same as the first context, store the first command in the second same-context-command FIFO.