An apparatus and method for transferring data between address ranges in memory

摘要

An apparatus comprises a data transfer controller 110 and a redirect controller 115. The data transfer controller is responsive to a data transfer request received by the apparatus from a processing element, to perform a transfer operation to transfer data from at least one source address range in memory to at least one destination address range in the memory. The redirect controller is arranged, whilst the transfer operation is being performed, to intercept an access request that specifies a target address within a target address range, and to perform a memory redirection operation so as to cause the access request to be processed without awaiting completion of the transfer operation. The apparatus may further comprise a setup controller 100 arranged to receive the data transfer request and issue a control signal that causes access requests to specify as the target address an address within the source or destination address ranges. The apparatus may also comprise control registers 105 that store control information used to control the performance of the transfer operation, the control information comprising indications of source address ranges, indications of destination address ranges, and progress indication data of the transfer operation.