Maintaining synchronisation between memory writing and reading blocks using an internal buffer and a control channel

A hardware unit for manipulating data stored in a memory, the hardware unit comprising:

• an internal buffer;
• a memory reading block, configured to read the data from the memory and write the data to the internal buffer;
• a memory writing block, configured to read the data from the internal buffer and write the data to the memory;
• and
• a control channel between the memory reading block and the memory writing block, wherein the memory reading block and the memory writing block are configured to communicate via the control channel to maintain synchronisation between them when writing the data to the internal buffer and reading the data from the internal buffer, respectively,
• wherein each of the memory reading block and the memory writing block has a respective synchronisation counter,
• the blocks being configured to communicate their synchronisation counters with each other via the control channel,
• wherein the hardware unit is configured to maintain synchronisation between the blocks by comparing the synchronisation counters.

A hardware-implemented method of manipulating data stored in a memory, the data comprising a multidimensional array comprising a plurality of data elements, the method comprising:

• (i) reading the data from the memory and writing the data to the internal buffer using a memory reading block;
• and
• (ii) reading the data from the internal buffer and writing the data to the memory using a memory writing block,
• wherein at least one of the steps (i) and (ii) is performed using a plurality of nested loops, each loop having associated with it a corresponding stride between data elements of the multidimensional array,
• wherein at least one loop of the plurality of nested loops is configured to iterate a different number of times depending on a loop index of at least one other loop of the plurality of nested loops, and
• wherein the memory reading block and the memory writing block are configured to communicate via a control channel to maintain synchronisation between step (i) and step (ii);
• wherein each loop of the plurality of loops is configured to perform a variable number of iterations, the variable number being selected at runtime from a group comprising:
• a first number of iterations to be performed when one or more outer loops of the plurality of nested loops are in their first iteration;
• and
• a second number of iterations to be performed when the one or more outer loops of the plurality of nested loops are in their end iteration.