Patent ID: 6700871
Filing Date: 2004-03-02
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method for increasing the throughput of data through a device providing an interface between a first network and a second network, comprising the steps of:receiving a packet from a source of data at said interface, said packet transported along said first network; determining if said packet either contains data previously forwarded across said interface and onto said second network for transmission to a recipient of said packet, or else data already received in said device but not yet forwarded; dropping said packet if said packet contains data either previously forwarded across said interface or already received but not yet forwarded; placing packets en route from said source of data on said first network to said recipient in a first queue in said device, said packets in said first queue having a packet sequence number; placing packets en route from said recipient to said source of data in a second queue in said device, said packets en route from said recipient to said source of data containing an acknowledge sequence number; determining a highest acknowledge sequence number for all of said packets in said second queue; comparing said packet sequence numbers of said packets in said first queue with said highest acknowledge sequence number; and determining whether to drop a packet from said first queue, the step of dropping being performed if a packet in said first queue has a packet sequence number lower than said highest acknowledge sequence number.