Patent ID: 6885666

Claim:
A method of synchronizing transfer of frame tags to a switch fabric with the transfer of data frames to a buffer memory, the method comprising: receiving, at a network switch port, at least a portion of a data frame including layer 3 information, generating a tag result corresponding to at least a portion of the data frame, synchronizing transfer of the tag result to a switch fabric with transfer of at least a portion of the data frame to a buffer memory based on a signal indicating a status of the transfer of the portion of the data frame to the buffer memory, and storing the portion of the data frame in the buffer memory, wherein the step of generating a tag result includes generating the tag result by the network switch port, and wherein the step of generating a tag result includes generating a first tag result by the network switch port, and synchronizing transfer of the first tag result is based on a signal from a queuing device indicating a start of frame.