Patent ID: 7174393
Filing Date: 2007-02-06
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: maintaining a set of communication control blocks (CCBs), some of the set of CCBs being maintained in a static random access memory (SRAM), others of the set of CCBs being maintained in a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), wherein a first plurality of the set of CCBs is under control of a network interface device, and wherein a second plurality of the set of CCBs is under control of a processing device, the processing device being coupled to the network interface device, the processing device executing a network protocol stack; receiving a TCP/IP packet onto the network interface device from a network, the TCP/IP packet including a data portion and a header portion; using a content addressable memory (CAM) on the network interface device to determine that the TCP/IP packet is associated with one of the first plurality of CCBs; determining on the network interface device that said one CCB is stored in the DRAM and transferring said one CCB into the SRAM; and transferring the data portion of the TCP/IP packet from the network interface device and into a destination without transferring the header portion of the TCP/IP packet into the destination, the destination having been determined by the processing device, wherein the network protocol stack executing on the processing device performs substantially no TCP protocol processing on the TCP/IP packet.