Patent ID: 7929442

Claim:
A method of a processor performing operations, the operations comprising: determining the level of packet traffic coming into a network controller; selecting a priority level as a function of the determined traffic level; assigning priority values to incoming packets; accepting and processing incoming packets having an assigned priority value above said selected priority level; and culling incoming packets having an assigned priority value below the selected priority level so that incoming packets having an assigned priority value below the selected priority level are culled as a function of the determined traffic level wherein said culling includes at least one of a) queuing in a processing suspension queue at least some incoming packets having a priority below said selected priority level to separate said packets being culled from unculled incoming packets and suspending processing of all of said packets in said queue, and b) discarding at least some incoming packets having a priority below the selected priority level; wherein said accepting and processing incoming packets having an assigned priority value above said selected priority level includes bypassing said culling so that said queuing in a processing suspension queue and said discarding are both bypassed so that incoming packets having an assigned priority value above the selected priority level bypass said culling as a function of the determined traffic level.