Patent ID: 7042886

Claim:
A network interface that processes data cells transmitted on a network operating in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), comprising: a data path unit that inputs said data cells transmitted on said network; a header processor that inputs a first data cell of said data cells from said data path unit and determines whether or not a full tuple can be created based on said first data cell; and a pointer memory that contains a pointer and a validity indicator, wherein said pointer points to another memory location which stores information corresponding to at least a portion of said full tuple and said validity indicator identifies a characteristic of said pointer, wherein, if said full tuple can be created based on said first data cell, said header processor constructs said full tuple based on said first data cell and outputs said full tuple, wherein, if said full tuple cannot be created based on said first data cell, said header processor inputs a second data cell of said data cells from said data path unit, constructs said full tuple based on said first data cell and said second data cell, and outputs said full tuple, wherein said data path unit creates a data packet corresponding to said full tuple, wherein, when said validity indicator corresponds to valid pointer data, said pointer points to a first memory location when said valid pointer data has a first value and points to a second memory location when said valid pointer data has a second value, and wherein said second memory location contains process flow information corresponding to a process flow of said data packet.