Processing system and method for transmitting data

Abstract

A method for exchanging data between first and second functional units includes the following steps. In a first handshake procedure, data is exchanged corresponding to a communication thread selected by the first functional unit, while independently in a second handshake procedure, information relating to a status of at least one communication thread is exchanged from the second to the first functional unit. The information enables the first functional unit to anticipate the possibility of exchanging data for the at least one communication thread.

1 . A method for exchanging data between a first functional unit and a second functional unit, the method comprising the acts of:
 in a first handshake procedure, exchanging data corresponding to a first communication thread selected by the first functional unit;   in a second handshake procedure, independent of the first handshake procedure, exchanging information relating to a status of a second communication thread from the second to the first functional unit,   wherein the information enables the first functional unit to predict exchanging of data the of the second communication thread, and to schedule an order in which transmissions for the first communication thread and the second communication thread should be handled.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the information is indicative for the filling degree of a buffer reserved for the second communication thread. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the information is indicative for an expected waiting time before a request relating to the second communication thread can be handled. 
     
     
         4 . A processing system for exchanging data between a first functional unit and a second functional unit corresponding to a first communication thread selected by the first functional unit in a first handshake procedure, while independently exchanging information relating to a status of second communication thread from the second functional unit to the first functional unit in a second handshake procedure, wherein the information enables the first functional unit to predict exchanging of data for the second communication thread and to schedule in which order transmissions for the first and second communication threads should be handled. 
     
     
         5 . The processing system according to  claim 4  comprising a plurality of functional units in a network, the processing system being arranged to transmit data and a communication thread identifier for said data according to a split protocol along a communication path from a source functional unit to a destination functional unit via one or more intermediate functional units, including the first functional unit and the second functional unit. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the act of scheduling at least one of the exchanging of the data and the exchanging of the information at a time when simultaneous unavailability of the first communication thread and the second communication thread is reduced. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information is indicative of a remaining processing time to calculate a result. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information is indicative of how often new data is to be provided. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the act of providing a notice of each empty buffer that becomes available to at least one the first communication thread and the second communication thread. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the act of providing a notice of each new data element that becomes available. 
     
     
         11 . The processing system of  claim 4 , further comprising a scheduler configured to schedule the exchanging of the data between the first functional unit and the second functional unit at a time when simultaneous unavailability of the first communication thread and the second communication thread is reduced. 
     
     
         12 . The processing system of  claim 4 , wherein the information is indicative of a remaining processing time to calculate a result. 
     
     
         13 . The processing system of  claim 4 , wherein the information is indicative of how often new data is to be provided. 
     
     
         14 . The processing system of  claim 4 , further comprising the act of providing a notice of each empty buffer that becomes available to at least one the first communication thread and the second communication thread. 
     
     
         15 . The processing system of  claim 4 , further comprising the act of providing a notice of each new data element that becomes available.