Split head invalidation for consumer batching in pointer rings

A method comprising:

• maintaining, by a consumer processor, a head pointer and a tail pointer;
• detecting, by a consumer processor, a request to copy at least one memory entry from a ring buffer having a plurality of slots;
• consuming, by the consumer processor, the at least one memory entry from the ring buffer, including:
• (i) testing, by the consumer processor, a first value associated with a respective memory entry in a first slot of the plurality of slots, wherein the first slot is indicated by the head pointer,
• (ii) responsive to receiving a valid value from the test, retrieve, by the consumer processor, the respective memory entry from the first slot,
• (iii) advancing, by the consumer processor, the head pointer to a second slot while the location of the tail pointer remains unchanged, and
• (iv) iterating, by the consumer processor, (i), (ii), and (iii) for each successive slot that the head pointer advances to until reaching a threshold quantity of slots;
• and
• responsive to a quantity of slots reaching the threshold quantity of slots, invalidating, by the consumer processor, each slot between the head pointer and the tail pointer.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing code, which when executed by a consumer processor, is configured to:

• maintain a head pointer and a tail pointer;
• detect a request to copy a at least one memory entry from a ring buffer having a plurality of slots;
• consume the at least one memory entry from the ring buffer, including:
• (i) test a first value associated with a respective memory entry in a first slot of the plurality of slots, wherein the first slot is indicated by the head pointer,
• (ii) responsive to receiving a valid value from the test, retrieve the respective memory entry from the first slot,
• (iii) advance the head pointer to a second slot while the location of the tail pointer remains unchanged, and
• (iv) iterate (i), (ii), and (iii) for each successive slot that the head pointer advances to until reaching a threshold quantity of slots;
• and
• responsive to the quantity of slots reaching the threshold quantity of slots, invalidate each slot between the head pointer and the tail pointer.