Task context switch for neural processor circuit

A task manager circuit, comprising:

• a first task queue;
• a second task queue;
• and
• a controller coupled to the first task queue and the second task queue and configured to:
• receive a context-switch task specifying a switch for a data processor circuit from handling a first task to a second task, wherein the first task or the second task is stored in the first task queue or the second task queue;
• and
• transmit configuration data of the context-switch task to the data processor circuit to cause the data processor circuit to:
• transmit output data corresponding to the first task generated by a neural engine circuit of a plurality of neural engine circuits to an external system memory that is shared by the plurality of neural engine circuits;
• and
• fetch data corresponding to the second task from the external system memory to a buffer of the data processor circuit.

A method of performing neural processing operations, comprising:

• receiving, by a task manager circuit, a context-switch task specifying a switch for a data processor circuit from handling a first task to a second task, wherein the first task or the second task is stored in a first task queue or a second task queue;
• transmitting configuration data of the context-switch task to the data processor circuit;
• transmitting, by the data processor circuit, output data corresponding to the first task generated by a neural engine circuit of a plurality of neural engine circuits to an external system memory that is shared by the plurality of neural engine circuits;
• and
• fetching data corresponding to the second task from the external system memory to a buffer of the data processor circuit.

A neural processor circuit, comprising:

• one or more neural engine circuits configured to perform convolution operations on input data corresponding to one or more tasks to generate output data;
• a data processor circuit coupled to the one or more neural engine circuits and coupled to a system memory, the data processor circuit comprising a buffer configured to store the output data from the one or more neural engine circuits;
• and
• a task manager circuit comprising a first task queue, a second task queue, and a controller coupled to the first task queue and the second task queue and configured to:
• receive a context-switch task specifying a switch for the data processor circuit from handling a first task to a second task, wherein the first task or the second task is stored in a first task queue or a second task queue;
• and
• transmit configuration data of the context-switch task to the data processor circuit to cause the data processor circuit to:
• transmit output data corresponding to the first task generated by the one or more neural engine circuits and stored in a buffer of the data processor circuit to an external system memory that is shared by a plurality of neural engine circuits;
• and
• fetch data corresponding to the second task from the external system memory to the buffer.