Patent ID: 7349399
Filing Date: 2008-03-25
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: receiving packets in a global order, the packets being designated for different ones of a plurality of reorder contexts; storing information including packet descriptors representing each of the received packets in a shared reorder buffer; for each of the plurality of reorder contexts, maintaining a reorder context linked list that records the order in which those of the packets that were designated for that reorder context and that are currently stored in the shared reorder buffer were received relative to the global order; completing processing of at least certain of the packets out of order using out-of-order processing, the out-of-order processing including both processing packets out of the global order and processing packets out of reorder context order; retiring the packet descriptors for each of the packets from the shared reorder buffer out of the global order for at least certain of the packets and in the order received for the packets of each reorder context.