Patent ID: 8332875
Filing Date: 2012-12-11
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A system for enabling access between operating system kernel space and a network interface controller (NIC) as well as between user space and said NIC, comprising: a kernel-space device driver for enabling access between kernel space and user space via a kernel-space-user-space interface; and a user-space device driver mechanism for enabling direct access between user space and the NIC via a user-space-NIC interface, wherein the user-space device driver mechanism provides direct, zero-copy user-space access to the NIC, said user-space device driver mechanism including means for interconnecting the kernel-space-user-space interface and the user-space-NIC interface to enable integrated kernel-space access and user-space access to the NIC, wherein the user-space device driver mechanism executes in application context of a user application; wherein the system provides simultaneous user-space and kernel-space access to a network layer over a single NIC port; and wherein the kernel-space device driver includes: