Patent ID: 8762595
Filing Date: 2014-06-24
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method for sharing a network interface unit among multiple processing partitions, the method comprising: providing a particular computer system comprising said multiple processing partitions, each processing partition comprising at least one processing entity and at least one portion of memory, wherein said particular computer system comprises a shared hardware interconnect coupling said multiple processing partitions to each other; providing a network interface unit, the network interface unit including a plurality of memory access channels, wherein the network interface unit is coupled to a network and receives data from other computer systems over the network, wherein said network and said other computer systems are external to said particular computer system; for each given processing partition of said multiple processing partitions: the network interface unit receiving network data from one of said other computer systems via the network; performing, via the network interface unit, a selection of a particular one of said respective sets of memory access channels based on one or more portions of said network data and one or more of said one or more tables; and transmitting said network data via a particular memory access channel of the selected set of memory access channels and via said interconnect to the particular processing partition to which said selected set of memory access channels is dedicated.