DATA PROCESSING UNIT WITH HARDWARE ASSISTED CONTEXT SWITCHING CAPABILITY

The present invention relates to a method of context switching from a first task to a second task in a data processing unit having a register file with a plurality of general purpose registers and a context switch register, a memory comprising a previous context save area and an unused context save area. The memory is coupled with the register file and an instruction control unit with a program counter register and a program status word register coupled with the memory and the register file. The method comprises the steps of acquiring a new save area from said unused save area, storing the context of the first task in said new area, linking the new area with said previous context save area.