Dynamically configurable, demand driven data processing pipeline

摘要

A dynamically configurable data processing pipeline has been described having a set of stages, each carrying out a separate data processing operation. The pipeline is demand driven in that stages obtain input data by calling preceding stages, and when called each stage processes its input data to produce output data returned to its caller. A stage determines which other stage or stages to call by inspecting one or more entries in the pipeline description table containing pointers to the other stages. The pipeline controller responds to input commands requesting various types of pipeline data processing operations by adjusting the pointers in the pipeline description table so that only stages necessary to execute the command are called.