Patent ID: 7177319

Claim:
A system having an insertion sorter circuit for determining a predetermined number N of most significant values of a set of random values comprising: a plurality of N series-connected sorter elements SE i , for each integer i from 1 to N, for sequentially processing the set of random values; each sorter element SE i sequentially receiving the random values from a respective one of N parallel inputs and including: a register R i for storing a most significant value; and a two element comparator C i for comparing the stored R i value to a received value of the set of random values; and each sorter element SE i for i>1, also including: a multiplexer M i for selecting between the received value and a register stored value and loading the selected value into the register R i when the received value is greater than the stored R i value; sorter element SE 1 configured to load the received value into register R 1 when the received value is greater than the value stored in R 1 ; and said sorter elements SE 1 to SE N connected in series such that, for each i>1, the register stored value of the multiplexer M i is output from the register R i−1 when the comparator C i−1 determines that the received value is greater than the R i−1 stored value, whereby the registers R 1 to R N store N most significant values in a descending order after sequentially processing the set of random values.