Patent ID: 7039725
Filing Date: 2006-05-02
Classification: G06F,H04J

Abstract:
1. In a network-connected integrated circuit, a method for securely buffering overhead messages, the method comprising: receiving messages including overhead bytes in a G.709 format message with 16 overhead bytes per row; collecting a first number of overhead bytes from a second plurality of frames; creating a first overhead message from the collected overhead bytes by writing the first number of collected bytes from each of the second number of frames to a buffer; establishing a overhead message semaphore with a byte semaphore for each overhead byte in the buffer; saving the first overhead message by not overwriting the first overhead message stored in the buffer until the buffer is read as follows: reading the first overhead message in the buffer; collecting new overhead bytes as follows: creating a second overhead message from the collected new overhead bytes by writing a first number of new overhead bytes to the buffer in response to the semaphore unlock state; overwriting each overhead byte in the first overhead message with an overhead byte in the second overhead message in response to a corresponding the byte semaphore; and, saving the second overhead message until it is read by setting the semaphore to the lock state in response to creating the second overhead message in the buffer.