Patent ID: 7911948

Claim:
A method of accelerating network traffic, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of network packets; selecting an application from multiple applications associated with the plurality of packets, wherein the selected application includes an associated packet time-out value; setting a threshold for a buffer at a level sufficient to allow for the transmitting of acknowledgements often enough to be transmitted within the associated time-out value of the selected application, wherein the threshold indicates a low water mark for the buffer, and wherein the buffer comprises a maximum capacity for storing network packets; storing the plurality of network packets in the buffer at least above the low water mark threshold and below the maximum capacity; removing packets from the buffer; transmitting the removed packets via a downstream link to an associated destination; and in response to removing packets from the buffer such that the buffer's capacity falls below the low water mark threshold, receiving additional packets and storing the additional packets at least above the low water mark threshold and below the maximum capacity.