Abstract: Briefly, a method and apparatus for mixing a plurality of channels of digital audio samples using a non-linear clipping function which has a variable scaling factor is disclosed. The non-linear curving function is capable of being graphically represented by a curve which is sloped at the edges before reaching the maximum values. In a first embodiment, the non-linear clipping function is applied to the samples and values are calculated in real-time. Preferably, inputs to the non-linear clipping function are modified depending upon any significant trends, e.g. increasing or decreasing, in the sums of samples over time. In a second embodiment, to reduce processor overhead, prior to real time application of the non-linear clipping function, the calculations are performed and a lookup table is generated. This lookup table is then used during real time to apply the clipping function to the input data so that the non-linear function is not recalculated whenever multiple channels are mixed.

Abstract: The invention is an instruction for locating the address of a specific character or value within a byte string of variable length. An offset into a portion of the string is specified and the portion of the string is searched for a first occurrence of the specific character beginning at the specified offset. If the specific character is found, then the existence of the specific character is indicated and an address or offset of the specific character is saved or otherwise indicated. If the specific character is not found, then the non-existence of the specific character is indicated and a convenient address or offset for referencing the next character immediately following the portion of the string already examined is saved or otherwise indicated. The specific character can have a length of one or more bytes and can be a pre-defined fixed value or a dynamic arbitrary value. The invention can execute in a time period comparable to performing an arithmetic instruction.