Time-indexed multiplexing as an efficient method of scheduling in hardware

A scheduling apparatus comprising:

• a. a time indexed table having task list entries, each task list entry referencing a corresponding task list, each task list further having task list elements specifying a group of processes from a plurality of processes to be handled during a corresponding time interval;
• b. a work unit storage buffer holding a plurality of work units;
• c. a process indexed table having process entries, each process entry further comprising a list of time sequenced work units associated therewith, each work unit specifying a handling time;
• and
• d. a scheduler parsing one task list during a corresponding time interval, to cause the initiation of handling of head-of-line work units corresponding to processes specified in the task list
• once handling for each head-of-line work unit has been initiated, the handling time associated with a subsequent work unit is used to reschedule the corresponding process in the time index table for subsequent handling.

A scheduling apparatus comprising:

• a. a time indexed table having time sequenced task list entries, each task list entry referencing a corresponding work unit list, each work unit list further having work unit list elements specifying a group of work units from a plurality of work units to be handled during a corresponding time interval;
• b. a work unit storage buffer holding a plurality of work units, each work unit specifying a handling time;
• and
• c. a scheduler parsing one work unit list during a corresponding time interval, to cause the initiation of handling of work units specified in the work unit list
• the handling time associated with each work unit is used to schedule for handling the work unit in a corresponding time sequenced work unit list associated with the time index table.

A method for scheduling a plurality of work units for handling comprising steps of:

• a. associating each one of the plurality of work units with a one of a plurality of time sequenced task lists for handling thereof during a time interval specified by a time index specification corresponding to the work unit;
• b. selecting a task list from the plurality of time sequenced task lists, each task list specifying at least one work unit to be handled during a particular time interval;
• and
• c. initiating the handling of each work unit in the selected task list.

A method for scheduling a plurality of processes for handling comprising steps of:

• a. associating each one of a plurality of work units with a corresponding one of the plurality of processes;
• b. sequencing, for each one of the plurality of processes, the plurality of works units associated therewith according to corresponding time index specifications associated with the work units;
• c. selecting a task list from a plurality of time sequenced task lists, each task list specifying at least one of the plurality of processes to be handled during a time interval;
• d. initiating the handling of each process in the selected task list;
• and
• e. rescheduling each handled process for subsequent handling by associating the handled process with another one of the plurality of task lists based on the time index specifications associated with the work units associated with the handled process.