Method and apparatus for data flow analysis

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for data flow control. One embodiment detects input congestion and output starvation in a plurality of sub-buffers of a ripple FIFO buffer. This embodiment is used to draw conclusions about the occupancy of the ripple FIFO buffer under steady-state conditions. One embodiment detects input congestion and output starvation at every sub-buffer of the ripple FIFO buffer. Other embodiments detect input congestion and output starvation at a subset of the sub-buffers of the ripple FIFO buffer. One embodiment determines occupancy of the ripple FIFO buffer by the number of sub-buffers which report a steady congested state. Another embodiment determines occupancy of the ripple FIFO buffer by the number of sub-buffers which report a steady starved state. Another embodiment determines occupancy of the ripple FIFO buffer by the location of sub-buffers which report a steady congested state. Another embodiment determines occupancy of the ripple FIFO buffer by the location of sub-buffers which report a steady starved state. Other embodiments determine occupancy of the ripple FIFO buffer by a combination of the above methods.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.