Patent ID: 6971103

Claim:
A method for processing a cross-thread interrupt directed from a requesting thread to a destination thread in a multithreaded processor, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request for delivery of the cross-thread interrupt to the destination thread; determining whether the destination thread of the cross-thread interrupt is enabled for receipt of cross-thread interrupts; and utilizing a thread identifier to control delivery of the cross-thread interrupt to the destination thread if the destination thread is enabled for receipt of cross-thread interrupts; wherein the requesting thread requests delivery of the cross-thread interrupt to the destination thread by setting a first bit in a single cross-thread interrupt resister, the cross-thread interrupt register being shared by a plurality of threads including at least the requesting thread and the destination thread, such that the destination thread is operative to request delivery of an additional cross-thread interrupt from the destination thread to the requesting thread by setting a second bit in the cross-thread interrupt register.