Patent ID: 7139268

Claim:
A method for processing network packets at an intermediate node, the method comprising: forming a first connection between a first node and the intermediate node this first connection including: a first flow originating at a first source flow end point on the first node and terminating at a first destination flow end point on the intermediate node, wherein processing at the first node associated with the first source flow end point conforms to a first protocol, and a second flow originating at a second source flow end point on the intermediate node and terminating at a second destination flow end point on the first node, wherein processing at the first node associated with the second destination flow end point conforms to a second protocol; forming a second connection between a second node and the intermediate node this second connection including: a third flow originating at a third source flow end point on the intermediate node and terminating at a third destination flow end point on the second node, wherein processing at the second node associated with the third destination flow end point conforms to a third protocol, and a fourth flow originating at a fourth source flow end point on the second node and terminating at a fourth destination flow end point on the intermediate node, wherein processing at the second node associated with the fourth source flow end point conforms to a fourth protocol, such that a given flow originates at a source flow end point on a source node and terminates at a destination flow end point on a destination node and data written to the source flow end point of a given flow can subsequently be read from the destination flow end point of the given flow without traversing any intervening flow end points, and splicing the first flow and third flow to form a first composite flow originating at the first source flow end point on the first node and terminating at the third destination flow end point on the second node in a manner whereby the second flow and the fourth flow remain unchanged.