Technique to handle insufficient on-chip memory capacity in decompressors

Abstract

A method to handle insufficient on-chip memory capacity in decompressors is disclosed. In one embodiment, such a method includes executing, by a decompressor configured to decompress data, an instruction configured to copy data from a source position within a data stream to a destination position within the data stream. The method determines whether the source position currently resides within an on-chip buffer of the decompressor. In the event the source position does not currently reside within the on-chip buffer of the decompressor, the method writes arbitrary placeholder data to the destination position and adds the instruction to a patch buffer. At a later point in time, the method retrieves the instruction from the patch buffer and executes the instruction by retrieving the data from the source position and overwriting the arbitrary placeholder data at the destination position with the data. A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed.