Patent ID: 7698541

Claim:
A method for switching tasks of a processor in a network adapter of a computer-networking appliance, comprising: configuring the processor to execute a plurality of tasks to extract and alter a header of an incoming frame depending on which port of a plurality of ports the frame is received; in response to the incoming frame passing through a port of the plurality of ports, generating, by a timer, an interrupt signal at an individual dedicated interrupt controller of a hierarchical array of interrupt controllers, wherein an individual dedicated interrupt controller is provided for each task the processor is configured to execute, the providing of an individual dedicated interrupt controller enabling task selection at the processor via hardware scheduling; transmitting the interrupt signal to a root interrupt controller of the hierarchical array; correlating the interrupt signal with a task identifier corresponding to the individual dedicated interrupt controller; selecting, by a multiplexer/demultiplexer using the task identifier, one of the plurality of individual dedicated interrupt controllers for a communication with the processor; transmitting an interrupt and the task identifier to the processor; identifying a second task and switching, isochronously, the processor from a first task to the second task in response to the interrupt and the task identifier being received at the processor, the second task identified by the task identifier; and accessing a dedicated memory address space corresponding to the second task.