Method and apparatus for efficiently providing data from a data storage medium to a processing entity

A computing system comprising:

• a processor that uses either a first data format or a second data format, wherein the processor indicates whether the first data format or the second data format is to be used, the processor having a cache in response to a line fill request from the processor;
• cache memory operably coupled to the processor;
• and
• a memory manager operably coupled to the processor and the cache memory, wherein, the memory manager includes:
• receive means for receiving a data request from the processor;
• determining means for determining whether the data request is for data in the cache memory or in a data storage element;
• line addressing means for generating, when the data is in the data storage element, a first addressing order for a line of data words using a target word first ordering when the request is for data in the first data format and generating a second addressing order for the line of data words using a reverse target word first ordering when the request is for data in the second data format;
• and
• write control means for causing the line of data words to be stored in the cache memory.

A digital storage medium for storing program instructions that, when read by a computing entity, causes the computing entity to efficiently provide data from a data storage medium to a processor, the digital storage medium comprises:

• first storage means for storing program instructions that cause the computing entity to receive a data request from the processor, wherein the data request includes an address corresponding to requested data and wherein the processor indicates whether a first data format or a second data format is to be used;
• second storage means for storing program instructions that cause the computing entity to determine whether the processor and the data storage medium are utilizing the first data format or the second data format;
• third storage means for storing program instructions that cause the computing entity to generate a first order address sequence to retrieve a line of data from the data storage medium when the processor and the data storage medium are utilizing the first data format;
• and
• fourth storage means for storing program instructions that cause the computing entity to generate a second order address sequence to retrieve the line of data from the data storage medium when the processor and the data storage medium are utilizing the second data format.

A method for efficiently retrieving from an external storage device a data line comprising a sequence of data words and providing the data line to a processor, the method comprising:

• receiving a request for the data line from the processor;
• determining whether the data line is stored in a first data format or a second data format;
• if the first data format is used, generating a first sequence of addresses for the data line using a target word first ordering and retrieving the data line from the external storage device in accordance with the first sequence of addresses and the target word first ordering;
• and
• if the second data format is used, generating a second sequence of addresses for the data line using a reverse target word first ordering and retrieving the data line from the external storage device in accordance with the second sequence of addressing and the reverse target word first ordering.