Early semaphore update

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• reading a set of data stored in an on-chip memory of an integrated circuit device to be written into a system memory;
• inserting a first semaphore update in a processing flow of the integrated circuit device to indicate that the on-chip memory is free to store a new set of data;
• writing the set of data read from the on-chip memory to the system memory;
• receiving an acknowledgement from the system memory that the set of data has been stored in the system memory;
• and
• in response to the acknowledgement, performing a second semaphore update to indicate that the set of data is available in the system memory.

A direct memory access (DMA) engine comprising:

• a read descriptor queue operable to store read descriptors;
• a write descriptor queue operable to store write descriptors;
• an input interface operable to read data based on the read descriptors;
• an output interface operable to write data based on the write descriptors;
• and
• a controller operable to:
• process the read descriptors to obtain a set of data from an on-chip memory of an integrated circuit device;
• insert a first semaphore update in a processing flow of the DMA engine to indicate that the on-chip memory is free to store a new set of data;
• process the write descriptors to write the set of data read from the on-chip memory to system memory;
• receive an acknowledgement from the system memory that the set of data has been stored in the system memory;
• and
• perform a second semaphore update to indicate that the set of data is available in the system memory in response to the acknowledgement.