Patent ID: 7089282

Claim:
A data processing system suitable for transmitting and receiving data packets via a network, comprising: a first processing entity configured to perform a first portion of a network communication protocol including a flow control portion of the protocol; a second processing entity communicatively connected to the first processing entity and configured to perform a second portion of the network communication protocol including an acknowledgement handling portion of the protocol; and means for the first and second processing entities to access a system memory storing data subject to transmission over the network after being configured to the network communication protocol; and means for retrieving data from the system memory and configuring the retrieved data according to the protocol, wherein the means for configuring the retrieved data includes: first processing entity means for determining a header portion of a protocol compliant packet and forwarding the determined header to the second processing means; and second processing entity means for retrieving the data from the system memory, combining the retrieved data with the determined header, calculating a checksum based on the contents of the data, and including the calculated checksum in the header.