Patent ID: 6427173
Filing Date: 2002-07-30
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
A device for communication between a network and a host computer, the device being coupled to the network and being coupled to the host computer, the host computer having a protocol stack, the device comprising:a receive sequencer that analyzes headers of packets received onto the device from the network, the receive sequencer generating for each of the packets an associated summary, each of the summaries being indicative of whether the associated packet is a fast-path candidate; a memory that stores the summaries; and a processor that obtains the summaries from the memory and determines, for each summary indicating that the associated packet is a fast-path candidate, whether the associated packet meets a plurality of fast-path criteria, and wherein if the processor determines that a packet meets the plurality of fast-path criteria then the processor performs transport and network layer processing of the packet on the device such that the protocol stack of the host computer does not perform the transport or network layer processing of the packet, whereas if the processor determines that the packet does not meet the plurality of fast-path criteria then the processor does not perform the transport and network layer processing such that the transport and network layer processing is done by the protocol stack of the host computer.