Patent ID: 7660306
Filing Date: 2010-02-09
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of operating network interface circuitry, wherein the network interface circuitry is configured to couple a host computer to a network to facilitate communication over the network between the host computer and a peer, the method comprising: by the network interface circuitry, where there is a layer-2 classification rule associated with characteristics of the received data, automatically applying the classification rule to the received data; and demultiplexing the received layer-2 packets according to destination queues associated with the host computer, wherein the method further comprises: applying to the received data a layer-3 classification rule associated with characteristics of the received data, thereby filtering ingress packets that have layer-2 characteristics not consistent with the layer-3 characteristics; and applying to the received data a VLAN classification rule associated with characteristics of the received data, thereby filtering ingress packets that have layer-2 characteristics and layer-3 characteristics that are not consistent with the VLAN characteristics.