A pointer circuit for pointing to elements in at least one collection of elements comprises a base pointer for providing a first binary-coded value defining a first address of an element in the collection. The pointer circuit also comprises a binary shift circuit receiving the first binary-coded value provided by the base pointer and a second binary-coded value defining a shift value. The binary shift circuit combines the first and second binary-coded values to provide a third binary-coded value defining a second address of an element in the collection differing from the first address by the shift value. A shift-value generator fed by the first binary-coded value generates the second binary-coded value depending on the first binary-coded value, so that a generated shift value takes into account shift values corresponding to first binary-coded values preceding a current first binary-coded value in a prescribed first binary-coded value progression order.