Method and apparatus for priority resolution
US6769005B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 13, 2001 |
| Grant date | Jul 27, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 5, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F7/026
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for resolving priority among a plurality of data values. The priority resolution method of the invention analyzes the data values one bit at a time, starting from the most significant bit. In one embodiment, at an initial analysis step, the method determines whether the most significant bits of the data values are asserted. If at least one of the most significant bits is asserted, the data values that have unasserted most significant bits are eliminated from consideration. If none of the most significant bits is asserted, none of the data values will be eliminated at the initial step. The same analysis steps are repeated for each successive bit until only the largest data values remain. The priority resolution method of the present invention may be used to determine the smallest data value. In that embodiment, the data values are first bit-wise inverted.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.