Abstract:
Techniques are described herein that can be used to control which packets or other data are able to be processed or otherwise utilize logic of a computing device. For example, a signature may be associated with a packet or other data received from a network. The signature and the packet or other data may be transferred to the computing device. Prior to the computing device deciding whether to allow logic such as hardware or software to use, process, or act using the packet or other data, the computing device may inspect the signature to determine if such signature permits such packet or other data to be used, processed, or acted upon.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/815,895 entitled “Accelerated TCP (Transport Control Protocol) Stack Processing”, filed Mar. 31, 2004, and claims the benefit of priority thereof. 
     
    
     FIELD  
       [0002]     The subject matter disclosed herein relates to techniques of processing packets received by a network component.  
       RELATED ART  
       [0003]     Networking has become an integral part of computer systems. Advances in network bandwidths, however, have not been fully utilized due to overhead that may be associated with processing protocol stacks. Overhead may result from bottlenecks in the computer system from using the core processing module of a host processor to perform slow memory access functions such as data movement, as well as host processor stalls related to data accesses missing the host processor caches. A protocol stack refers to a set of procedures and programs that may be executed to handle packets sent over a network, where the packets may conform to a specified protocol. For example, TCP/IP (Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) packets may be processed using a TCP/IP stack.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0004]     Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:  
         [0005]      FIG. 1  depicts an example computer system capable to use embodiments of the present invention.  
         [0006]      FIG. 2  depicts an example implementation of contents of a host memory that may be used in an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0007]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  depict example operations of some embodiments of the present invention.  
         [0008]      FIGS. 4 and 5  depict example flow diagrams of processes in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
       [0009]     Note that use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates the same or like elements.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0010]     Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” or “an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more embodiments.  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  depicts in computer system  100  a suitable system in which some embodiments of the present invention may be used. Computer system  100  may include host system  102 , bus  116 , and network component  118 .  
         [0012]     Host system  102  may include chipset  105 , processor  110 , host memory  112 , and storage  114 . Chipset  105  may provide intercommunication among processor  110 , host memory  112 , storage  114 , bus  116 , as well as a graphics adapter that can be used for transmission of graphics and information for display on a display device (both not depicted). For example, chipset  105  may include a storage adapter (not depicted) capable of providing intercommunication with storage  114 . For example, the storage adapter may be capable of communicating with storage  114  in conformance with any of the following protocols: Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), Fibre Channel (FC), and/or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (S-ATA).  
         [0013]     In some embodiments, chipset  105  may include data mover logic to perform transfers of information within host memory, from host memory to host system, within host system, or from host system to host memory. As used herein, a “data mover” refers to a module for moving data from a source to a destination without using the core processing module of a host processor, such as processor  110 , or otherwise does not use cycles of a processor to perform data copy or move operations. By using the data mover for transfer of data, the processor may be freed from the overhead of performing data movements, which may result in the host processor running at much slower memory speeds compared to the core processing module speeds. A data mover may include, for example, a direct memory access (DMA) engine as described herein. In some embodiments, data mover could be implemented as part of processor  110 , although other components of computer system  100  may include the data mover.  
         [0014]     Processor  110  may be implemented as Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) or Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) processors, multi-core, or any other microprocessor or central processing unit. Host memory  112  may be implemented as a volatile memory device such as but not limited to a Random Access Memory (RAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), or Static RAM (SRAM). Storage  114  may be implemented as a non-volatile storage device such as but not limited to a magnetic disk drive, optical disk drive, tape drive, an internal storage device, an attached storage device, flash memory, battery backed-up SDRAM (synchronous DRAM), and/or a network accessible storage device.  
         [0015]     Bus  116  may provide intercommunication among at least host system  102  and network component  118  as well as other peripheral devices (not depicted). Bus  116  may support serial or parallel communications. Bus  116  may support node-to-node or node-to-multi-node communications. Bus  116  may be compatible with Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) described for example at Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Local Bus Specification, Revision 2.2, Dec. 18, 1998 available from the PCI Special Interest Group, Portland, Oreg., U.S.A. (as well as revisions thereof); PCI Express described in The PCI Express Base Specification of the PCI Special Interest Group, Revision 1.0a (as well as revisions thereof); PCI-x described in the PCI-X Specification Rev. 1.0a, Jul. 24, 2000, available from the aforesaid PCI Special Interest Group, Portland, Oreg., U.S.A. (as well as revisions thereof); and/or Universal Serial Bus (USB) (and related standards) as well as other interconnection standards.  
         [0016]     Network component  118  may be capable of providing intercommunication between host system  102  and network  120  in compliance at least with any applicable protocols. Network component  118  may intercommunicate with host system  102  using bus  116 . In one embodiment, network component  118  may be integrated into chipset  105 . “Network component” may include any combination of digital and/or analog hardware and/or software on an I/O (input/output) subsystem that may process one or more packets to be transmitted and/or received over a network. In one embodiment, the I/O subsystem may include, for example, a network component card (NIC), and network component may include, for example, a MAC (media access control) layer of the Data Link Layer as defined in the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model for networking protocols. The OSI model is defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) located at 1 rue de Varembé, Case postale 56 CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.  
         [0017]     In some embodiments, host system  102  includes the capability to control which packets can access the data mover logic of host system  102 . For example, in some embodiments, the packets that can use data mover logic of host system  102  are selected based on a signature generated by a peripheral device that provides the packets to the host system. In some embodiments, the data mover logic of host system  102  may further include the capability to perform action requests provided with the packet. For example, the action request may be generated by a peripheral device that provides the packets to the host system.  
         [0018]     In some embodiments, network component  118  includes the capability to control which payload and other contents are transmitted from network component  118  or otherwise may utilize logic of network component  118 . For example, in some embodiments, a host system or other logic that provides payload and other contents to network component  118  may generate a signature for the payload and other contents. For example, network component  118  may select which payload and other contents are transmitted to a network based in part on the signature. For example, in some embodiments, access to data mover logic of the network component  118  may be controlled by whether the signature provided with the payload and other contents is acceptable. In some embodiments, the data mover logic of network component  118  may further include the capability to perform action requests provided with the payload and other contents. For example, the host system or other logic may generate the action request.  
         [0019]     Network  120  may be any network such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), storage area network (SAN), a wide area network (WAN), or wireless network. Network  120  may exchange traffic with network component  118  using the Ethernet standard (described in IEEE 802.3 and related standards) or any communications standard.  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  depicts an example implementation of contents of a host memory that may be used in an embodiment of the present invention, although embodiments are not limited in this respect. The following contents of  FIG. 2  could be machine-executable instructions that include instructions for an application  202 ; a set of instructions for operating system  204 ; a set of instructions for TCP-accelerated (TCP-A) driver  205 ; and/or a set of instructions for data mover driver  206 . For example, the machine-executable instructions may be executed by processor  110  or other logic. Host memory may further store buffers such as temporary buffer  208 , read buffer  210 , application buffer  211 , source buffer  212 , and queued buffer  214 . A “buffer” as used herein represents any area of any type of memory that can be identified by an address and that is capable of storing one or more bits.  
         [0021]     Application  202  may include, for example, a web browser, an email serving application, a file serving application, or a database application. In conjunction with a read data request, application  202  may designate read buffer  210  from which application  202  may access the requested data. In conjunction with a transmit data request, application  202  may write data to be transmitted to source buffer  212  or other buffer such as application buffer  211 .  
         [0022]     Operating system (OS)  204  may be any operating system executable by processor  110 . For example, suitable embodiments of OS  204  include, but are not limited to, Linux, FreeBSD, or Microsoft Windows compatible operating systems.  
         [0023]     TCP-A driver  205  may perform packet processing for at least one or more packets in compliance with TCP/IP. For example, the TCP/IP protocol is described at least in the publication entitled “Transmission Control Protocol: DARPA Internet Program Protocol Specification,” prepared for the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (RFC 793, published September 1981). Packet processing may include retrieving the header from a buffer (such as the temporary buffer), parsing the header to determine the protocol context associated with the current connection, and performing TCP protocol compliance. TCP protocol compliance may comprise, for example, verifying the sequence number of a received packet to ensure that the packet is within a range of numbers that was agreed upon between the communicating nodes; verifying the payload size to ensure that the packet is within a range of sizes that was agreed upon between the communicating nodes; ensuring that the header structure conforms to the protocol; and ensuring that the timestamps are within an expected time range.  
         [0024]     In connection with one or more packets received from a network, TCP-A driver  205  may request data mover of the host system to transfer data and/or payloads from temporary buffer  208  to read buffer  210 . In connection with one or more packets to be transmitted to a network, TCP-A driver  205  may also request data mover logic in a network component to transfer data and/or payloads as well as other information (such as a signature and/or action request) from a source or queued buffer to a network component. Each data mover may perform transfers without use of a core processing logic of a processor.  
         [0025]     In connection with one or more packets received from a network, data mover driver  206  may schedule a request with data mover of the host system to write the one or more payloads from temporary buffer  208  to read buffer  210 . In another embodiment, TCP-A driver  205  may directly program the data mover of the host system to write the one or more payloads from temporary buffer  208  to read buffer  210 . Data mover driver  206  may be a standalone driver, or part of some other driver, such as TCP-A driver  205 . In connection with one or more packets to be transmitted to a network, data mover driver  206  may schedule a request with a data mover of the host system to transfer one or more payload or other information from an application buffer to a source or queued buffer.  
         [0026]     For example, temporary buffer  208  may store a header, a payload, a signature, and an action request (as the case may be) for each packet received from a network or otherwise transferred from another device. For each packet received from a network, network component may split header and payload from a packet, and post each of the header and payload into temporary buffer  208 . In one embodiment, header may be posted to a first buffer in temporary buffer  208  and payload may be posted to a second buffer in temporary buffer  208 . In some embodiments, network component may also store signature and action request associated with each packet into temporary buffer  208 .  
         [0027]     For example, read buffer  210  may store data and/or payloads received from a network or otherwise transferred from another device. For example, application  202  may designate destination read buffer  210  where application  202  may access the requested data and/or payloads.  
         [0028]     For example, application buffer  211  may store payloads and other information to be transmitted to a destination device through a network or otherwise transferred to another device. For example, in conjunction with a transmit data request, data mover driver  206  may program a data mover of a host system to transfer data from an application buffer  211  to source buffer  212  or queued buffer  214 .  
         [0029]     For example, source buffer  212  may store data to be transmitted to a destination device through a network. For example, in conjunction with a transmit data request, TCP-A driver  205  may program a data mover of a network component to transmit data from source buffer  212  to the network component.  
         [0030]     Alternatively, TCP-A driver  205  may queue a buffer, such as queued buffer  214 , and the network component may read data from queued buffer  214 . In one embodiment, TCP-A driver  205  may program data mover of the network component to transfer data from source buffer  212  if the data is small, and TCP-A driver  205  may queue a buffer, such as queued buffer  214 , if the data is large. As used herein, “queuing a buffer” means to notify a component that there is a buffer from which it can access data. For example, TCP acknowledgment packets to acknowledge receipt of packets may typically be relatively small-sized packets and may be transferred to network component using source buffer  212 . As another example, storage applications that send large files over the network may be relatively large and may be transferred to network component using queued buffer  214 .  
         [0031]      FIG. 3A  depicts an example operation of some embodiments of the present invention that can be used in connection with transfer of packets from a network interface (or other device) to a host system. Network component  300  may receive one or more packets. As used herein, a “packet” means a sequence of one or more symbols and/or values that may be encoded by one or more signals transmitted from at least one sender to at least one receiver. Transceiver  302  may include a media access controller (MAC) and a physical layer interface (both not depicted) capable of receiving packets from a network and transmitting packets to a network in conformance with the protocols such as Ethernet as described in IEEE 802.3, although other protocols may be used. Transceiver  302  may receive packets from a network and transmit packets to a network via a network medium. Transceiver  302  may transfer packets received from a network to packet buffer  304 .  
         [0032]     Packet buffer  304  may at least store one or more packet received from a network. Network interface data mover  306  may transfer packets and associated signatures to temporary buffer  352  of host system  350 . In some embodiments, network interface data mover  306  may include logic for moving data from a source to a destination without using the core processing module of a processor, such as processor  110 , or otherwise does not use cycles of a processor to perform data copy or move operations. Network interface data mover  306  may include, for example, a direct memory access (DMA) engine.  
         [0033]     In some embodiments, network interface data mover  306  may include signature generating logic  308  to generate a signature for one or more packets received from a network. For example, a signature may be a checksum, computed cyclical redundancy checking (CRC) value, or other computed value based on one or more portion of the one or more packet. For example, the first few bytes of the packet payload may be used as the signature. For example, where receive side scaling (RSS) is supported by the network component, a signature for a packet may be generated using logic to determine an RSS hash value. For example, the RSS hash value may be generated based on the MAC header, IP header, and TCP header associated with the one or more packet. Network interface data mover  306  may transfer the signature associated with the one or more packet to temporary buffer  352 .  
         [0034]     In some embodiments, network interface data mover  306  may in addition or as an alternative to determining a signature for one or more packets, determine an action request associated with one or more packets. For example, an action request may include a request to decrypt and may specify a decryption scheme to use. For example, network interface data mover  306  may include logic to provide an action request of whether to decrypt one or more packets and may specify a decryption scheme to use, although other action requests may be provided. Examples of decryption algorithms include but are not limited to SSL, RC4, Data Encryption Standard (DES), and DDS. For example, the decryption scheme may be determined by inspecting TCP headers and application headers associated with one or more packets. Other action requests may be provided such as but not limited to hashing functions (such as, but not limited, to US Secure Hash Algorithm 1 (SHA1) described in RFC 3174), compression and decompression, and marker insertion and removal. For example, network interface data mover  306  may include logic to provide the action requests.  
         [0035]     In some embodiments, as an alternative, transceiver  302  may include logic with the capability to generate a signature and action request for each packet.  
         [0036]     Descriptor ring controller  310  may coordinate the transfer of packets and signatures as well as action requests to locations within temporary buffer  352  of host system  350 . For example, descriptor ring controller  310  may use descriptors transferred to and from host system  350  to coordinate transfer of packets and other information to host system  350 .  
         [0037]     Temporary buffer  352  of host system  350  may store a header, payload, signature, and action requests associated with each packet. For example, network interface data mover  306  may split header and payload from each packet, and post each of the header and payload into temporary buffer  352 . In some embodiments, the signature may be stored adjacent to the payload.  
         [0038]     TCP-A driver  354  may perform packet processing for at least one or more packets in compliance with TCP/IP, although other processing in accordance with other protocols may be used. For example, in response to successful protocol processing of a header, TCP-A driver  354  may request use of host data mover  356  to transfer one or more payloads from temporary buffer  352  to read buffer  358 . In some embodiments, host data mover  356  may include logic for moving data from a source to a destination without using the core processing module of a host processor, such as processor  110 , or otherwise does not use cycles of a processor to perform data copy or move operations. Host data mover  356  may include, for example, a direct memory access (DMA) engine.  
         [0039]     In some embodiments, host data mover  356  may include logic to verify that a signature associated with one or more packets is correct. For example, the signature checking logic may determine a signature for one or more packet in a similar manner as logic used in the network component to generate the signature. If the signature computed by host data mover  356  matches the signature provided by network component  300 , then the packet payload is cleared for additional processing or use by host system  350 . Accordingly, by use of signature checking logic, host system  350  may control which network components can utilize logic of host system  350 . For example, in response to the signature computed by host data mover  356  matching the signature provided by network component  300 , host data mover  356  may transfer the one or more payload(s) from temporary buffer  352  to read buffer  358 . Read buffer  358  may store payloads that can be accessed by applications or other logic.  
         [0040]     In some embodiments, host data mover  356  may include action request performing logic to perform an action request associated with one or more packets. For example, an action request may include a request to decrypt one or more packet in accordance with decryption scheme specified in the action request. However, other action requests may be performed.  
         [0041]     In some embodiments, signature checking logic and action request performing logic are performed using instructions executed by a processor as opposed to logic of host data mover  356 . In some embodiments, signature checking logic and action request performing logic are separate from host data mover  356 . In some embodiments, signature checking may occur prior to processing of the packet for protocol compliance.  
         [0042]     In some embodiments, host system  350  is capable of receiving packets and associated signatures and/or action requests from multiple network components.  
         [0043]      FIG. 3B  depicts an example operation of some embodiments of the present invention that can be used in connection with transfer of information from a host system to a network interface for transmission to a network.  
         [0044]     In some embodiments, although not limited in this respect, in connection with a transmission of one or more payload or other information in one or more packet to a destination device, data mover driver  360  may initiate transfer by host data mover  356  of one or more payload or other information from application buffer  362  to a source or queued buffer  364  in the host system. For example, application buffer  362  may store payloads and other information designated by an application for transmission to a destination node.  
         [0045]     In some embodiments, host data mover  356  may include host signature generating logic  363  which may have the capability to generate a signature for one or more payload or other information to be transmitted to a destination node using network component  300 . For example, host signature generating logic  363  may generate signatures over one or more payload or other information in a similar manner as described with respect to signature generating logic  308  of  FIG. 3A .  
         [0046]     In some embodiments, host data mover  356  may include logic to generate action requests associated with one or more payload or other information. Action requests may be similar to those described with regard to  FIG. 3A .  
         [0047]     In some embodiments, although not limited in this respect, TCP-A driver  354  may initiate transfer of one or more payload or other information as well as an associated signature and action request from source or queued buffer  364  to packet buffer  304 . For example, TCP-A driver  354  may request network interface data mover  306  to transfer the payload or other information as well as an associated signature and action request from source or queued buffer  364  to packet buffer  304 . In some embodiments, network interface data mover  306  may include network interface signature checking logic  365  with the capability to verify the signature associated with one or more payload or other information. For example, network interface signature checking logic  365  may verify signatures in a manner similar to that described with regard to signature checking logic of host data mover  356  of  FIG. 3A . In some embodiments, if a signature provided with one or more payload is valid, then network interface data mover  306  may transfer the one or more payload for storage into packet buffer  304 . In some embodiments, if the signature provided with one or more payload is not valid, then network interface data mover  306  may not transfer the one or more payload for storage into packet buffer  304 .  
         [0048]     In some embodiments, network interface data mover  306  may include action request performing logic that may perform actions provided with one or more payload. For example, action request performing logic may perform actions in a manner similar to that described with regard to  FIG. 3A . In some embodiments, action request performing logic may perform actions provided with one or more payload if the signature associated with the one or more payload is valid and prior to transfer of the one or more payload into packet buffer  304 .  
         [0049]     In some embodiments, descriptor ring controller  310  may coordinate the transfer of payloads and signatures as well as action requests to network component  300  from host system  350 . For example, descriptor ring controller  310  may use descriptors to coordinate transfer payloads and signatures as well as action requests to network component  300  from host system  350 .  
         [0050]     In some embodiments, transceiver  302  may form one or more packet using one or more payload or other information stored in packet buffer  304  in accordance with relevant protocols such as but not limited to Ethernet. Transceiver  302  may transmit packets in packet buffer  304  to a destination through a network via a network medium.  
         [0051]      FIG. 4  depicts an example flow diagram of a process  400  in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. For example, process  400  may be used in connection with receipt of packets from a network. In block  402 , a network component may receive an indication that one or more packet has been received from a network. Each packet may include a header and a payload portion.  
         [0052]     In block  404 , the network component may generate a signature for one or more packets and generate action requests for any of the one or more packets. In some embodiments, a signature is generated for one or more packets but not an action request. In some embodiments, an action request is generated for one or more packets but not a signature. A signature may be a computed value based on one or more portion(s) of the one or more packet. For example, an action request may include a request to decrypt and may specify a decryption scheme to use. Other action requests may be specified.  
         [0053]     In block  406 , for each packet, the network component may split header and payload from packet, and post each of the header and payload as well as associated signature and action request into a temporary buffer in a host system. The one or more packets may be comprised in one or more groups, and each group of packets may be transmitted and/or received over a connection. In some embodiments, data mover logic may be used to post each of the header and payload as well as associated signature and action request into a temporary buffer. A “connection” as used herein refers to a logical pathway to facilitate communications between a first node on a network and a second node on the network. A connection may facilitate communications for one or more transactions between the first node and the second node. A “transaction” may refer to a request to send or receive data and may be initiated by an application, such as application  202 , on a system, such as system  102 . Each connection may be associated with a protocol context. As used herein, “protocol context” refers to information about a connection. For example, the information may include the sequence number of the last packet sent/received, and amount of memory available.  
         [0054]     At block  408 , the network component may notify a TCP-A driver that one or more packets have arrived. In one embodiment, the network component may notify the TCP-A driver by notifying an operating system in accordance with an interrupt moderation scheme. An interrupt moderation scheme refers to a condition where an interrupt may be asserted for every integer n packets received by the network component. Thus, if network component receives n or more packets, network component may notify operating system that packets have arrived. Likewise, if network component receives less than n packets, network component may instead wait until more packets are received before notifying the operating system. In one embodiment, the operating system may then notify the TCP-A driver that packets are ready to be processed.  
         [0055]     At block  410 , the TCP-A driver may perform packet processing for at least one packet. Packet processing may be performed by the TCP-A driver retrieving the header from the temporary buffer, parsing the header to determine the protocol context associated with the current connection, and performing TCP protocol compliance. TCP protocol compliance may include, for example, verifying the sequence number of a received packet to ensure that the packet is within a range of numbers that was agreed upon between the communicating nodes; verifying the payload size to ensure that the packet is within a range of sizes that was agreed upon between the communicating nodes; ensuring that the header structure conforms to the protocol; and ensuring that the timestamps are within an expected time range.  
         [0056]     The TCP-A driver may fetch a next header to process prior to completing the processing of a current header. This may ensure that the next header is available in the host processor&#39;s cache (not shown) before the TCP-A driver is ready to perform TCP processing on it, thereby reducing host processor inactivity. The method may continue to block  412 .  
         [0057]     In one embodiment, TCP-A driver may additionally determine if a connection associated with a packet is to be accelerated prior to performing packet processing. TCP-A driver may accelerate select connections. Select connections may comprise, for example, connections that are long-lived, or which comprise large data. If TCP-A driver determines that network connection is to be accelerated, TCP-A driver may perform packet processing as that described at block  410 . If TCP-A driver determines that a network connection is not to be accelerated, the method may continue to block  428 .  
         [0058]     At block  412 , TCP-A driver may determine if one or more payloads placed in a temporary buffer are ready for transfer to a destination buffer such as a read buffer. A payload may be ready for transfer if, for example, the corresponding header has been successfully processed, and the destination buffer, such as read buffer, has been designated. If there are one or more payloads ready for transfer, the process may continue to block  416 . If at block  412 , payload is not ready for transfer, process  400  may continue to block  414 .  
         [0059]     In one embodiment, TCP-A driver may determine if there are one or more payloads ready for placement at anytime. For example, if it is determined that a payload is not ready for placement, TCP-A driver may wait for some period of time before it makes this determination again. Where a payload cannot be placed because a destination buffer does not exist, for example, TCP-A driver may alternatively or additionally at anytime indicate to the operating system the presence of payload ready to be placed. Operating system may then designate a buffer, or may ask an application to designate a buffer. If there are one or more payloads ready for transfer, the process may continue to block  416 .  
         [0060]     At block  414 , TCP-A driver may determine if there are more packets to process, for example in a temporary buffer, of the n packets for the current interrupt. If there are more packets to process, process  400  may revert to block  410 . If there are no more packets to process, and one or more packets have not been previously placed and are ready for placement, process  400  may continue to block  416 . If there are no more packets to process, and there are no previously processed packets to place, process  400  may continue to block  424 .  
         [0061]     At block  416 , a data mover may check validity of a signature associated with one or more packets. For example, the data mover may be located in a host system or be otherwise accessible for use by the host system. For example, checking validity of a signature may include determining a signature for one or more packet in a similar manner as that used in the network component to generate the signature. If the signature determined in block  416  matches the signature provided by the network component, then block  420  may follow. If the signature determined in block  416  does not match the signature provided by the network component, then block  418  may follow.  
         [0062]     In some embodiments, the data mover may perform the signature check prior to processing the packet for protocol compliance.  
         [0063]     At block  418 , the process may bypass transfer of the one or more payload for which signature validation failed. For example, block  418  may include the process not transferring the one or more payload to an application buffer and permitting the one or more payload to be overwritten. Block  414  may follow block  418  (not depicted).  
         [0064]     At block  420 , the process may perform an action request associated with one or more packet. The action request may be provided by a network component or other device. For example, an action request may include a request to decrypt one or more packet in accordance with specified decryption schemes. However, other action requests can be specified. Block  422  may follow block  420 .  
         [0065]     At block  422 , TCP-A driver  205  may perform one or more operations that result in the data mover placing one or more corresponding payloads into a read buffer, such as read buffer  210 . By using the data mover for placement of data, host processor may be freed from the overhead of performing data movements, which may result in the host processor running at much slower memory speeds compared to the core processing module speeds. Following the data mover scheduling, the method may revert to block  414  to determine if there are additional packets to process.  
         [0066]     At block  424 , TCP-A driver may determine if there are any pending data mover completions for the current interrupt. Alternatively, TCP-A driver may look for data mover completions at anytime. A “pending completion” as used herein refers to the completion of a request. In one embodiment, a pending completion refers to the completion of a request to data mover to write one or more payloads. In one embodiment, a pending completion refers to the completion of a request to data mover to transfer one or more payloads. If, at block  424 , there are one or more pending data mover completions for the current interrupt, process  400  may continue to block  426 . If, at block  424 , there are no pending data mover completions for the current interrupt, process  400  may continue to block  428 .  
         [0067]     At block  426 , TCP-A driver may perform other tasks. Other tasks may include looking for more packets in a subsequent interrupt, setting up the data mover to issue an interrupt upon completion of a last queued task for the current interrupt, or other housekeeping, such as transmitting data, and performing TCP timer related tasks. After performing other tasks, process  400  may revert to block  424 .  
         [0068]     At block  428 , TCP-A driver may pass control back to operating system. If one or more packets have still not been processed, operating system may notify a TCP driver (not shown) rather than TCP-A driver  205 , where the TCP driver may perform TCP stack processing by performing packet processing, and by using the core processing module of host processor to perform data transfers. If all packets have been processed, operating system may wait for a next interrupt.  
         [0069]     A method according to another embodiment is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . For example, process  500  may be used in connection with transmission of packets to a network. The method begins at block  502  where an operating system (such as but not limited to operating system  204 ) may receive a request from an application (such as but not limited to application  202 ) to transmit data placed in source buffer (such as but not limited to source buffer  212 ). Operating system may perform preliminary checks on data. Preliminary checks may include, for example, obtaining the associated protocol context. In a TCP/IP connection, for example, protocol context may comprise packet sequence numbers to identify the order of the packets, buffer addresses of buffers used to store data, and timer/timestamp information for retransmissions.  
         [0070]     In some embodiments, block  502  may include a data mover driver requesting transfer of one or more payload or data from an application buffer to a source or queued buffer by use of a data mover in or accessible by a host system. In some embodiments, in block  502 , the data mover in or accessible by a host system may generate a signature associated with one or more data. For example, the signature may be generated in a similar manner as described with respect to block  404 . In some embodiments, in block  506 , data mover of the host system or other logic may generate an action request associated with one or more data. For example, the action request may be generated in a similar manner as described with respect to block  404 .  
         [0071]     At block  504 , operating system may notify TCP-A driver (such as but not limited to TCP-A driver  205 ) that there is one or more payload or data to be transmitted from a buffer.  
         [0072]     At block  506 , TCP-A driver  205  may perform one or more operations that result in data being transmitted to network component. For example, these one or more operations may include TCP-A driver programming a data mover to transmit one or more payload or data from source buffer  212  to network component. For example, the data mover used in block  506  may be accessible to the network component. Alternatively, TCP-A driver may queue a buffer, such as but not limited to queued buffer  214 , to network component, where network component may instead read one or more payload or data from queued buffer. The source buffer may be designated for example by the application (such as but not limited to application  202 ), for example, whereas queued buffer  214  may be designated by the network component, for example.  
         [0073]     In some embodiments of block  508 , data mover logic used by a network component may check validity of a signature associated with one or more payload or data provided by a host system. For example, checking validity of a signature may include determining a signature for one or more payload or data in a similar manner as that used in the host system to generate the signature. If the signature computed in block  508  matches the signature provided by network component and associated with the one or more payload or data, then block  510  may follow. If the signature computed in block  508  does not match the signature provided by network component, then block  512  may follow.  
         [0074]     At block  510 , in response to receiving the one or more payload or data, network component may create one or more packets for transmission by packetizing the one or more payload or data. In one embodiment, network component may packetize one or more payload or data by performing segmentation on the one or more payload or data. “Segmentation” refers to breaking the one or more payload or data into smaller pieces for transmission. In one embodiment, network component may comprise a MAC, and segmentation may be referred to as a large send offload, wherein MAC frames may be created for transmission of one or more payload or data over the network. Network component may receive one or more payload or data directly from TCP-A driver, or by accessing queued buffer.  
         [0075]     In some embodiments, in block  510 , the network component may perform an action request associated with the one or more payload or data. In some embodiments, data mover logic accessible to the network component may perform the action request.  
         [0076]     At block  512 , the network component may not transmit any packet with the received one or more payload or data. For example, the one or more payload or data may be made available to be overwritten.  
         [0077]     Thereafter, operating system may send a completion notification to application. Furthermore, source buffer may be returned to application, and application may use the buffer for other purposes.  
         [0078]     In some embodiments, a TCP driver is used in place of a TCP-A driver. For example a TCP driver may perform TCP stack processing by performing packet processing, and by using the core processing module of a host processor to perform one or more payload or data transfers.  
         [0079]     Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented as any or a combination of: microchips or integrated circuits interconnected using a motherboard, hardwired logic, software stored by a memory device and executed by a microprocessor, firmware, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and/or a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The term “logic” may include, by way of example, software or hardware and/or combinations of software and hardware.  
         [0080]     Embodiments of the present invention may be provided, for example, as a computer program product which may include one or more machine-readable media having stored thereon machine-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more machines such as a computer, network of computers, or other electronic devices, may result in the one or more machines carrying out operations in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. A machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs (Compact Disc-Read Only Memories), and magneto-optical disks, ROMs (Read Only Memories), RAMs (Random Access Memories), EPROMs (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memories), EEPROMs (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memories), magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other type of media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing machine-executable instructions.  
         [0081]     Moreover, embodiments of the present invention may also be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program may be transferred from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of one or more data signals embodied in and/or modulated by a carrier wave or other propagation medium via a communication link (e.g., a modem and/or network connection). Accordingly, as used herein, a machine-readable medium may, but is not required to, comprise such a carrier wave.  
         [0082]     The drawings and the forgoing description gave examples of the present invention. Although depicted as a number of disparate functional items, those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of such elements may well be combined into single functional elements. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment. For example, orders of processes described herein may be changed and are not limited to the manner described herein. The scope of the present invention, however, is by no means limited by these specific examples. Numerous variations, whether explicitly given in the specification or not, such as differences in structure, dimension, and use of material, are possible. The scope of the invention is at least as broad as given by the following claims.