Patent ID: 7420931

Claim:
A method for filtering a packet on a connection within a computing system to perform a firewalling function that selectively discards packets, comprising: receiving the packet by an offload unit; determining, by the offload unit, whether the connection is a delegated connection; determining, by the offload unit, based on a predetermined policy, whether the connection is an allowed connection, when the connection is not a delegated connection; filtering the packet to perform the firewalling function by discarding the packet, when the connection is not an allowed connection; determining whether state information of the connection corresponds to an entry in a delegated connection table, when the connection is a delegated connection; uploading the packet to a user buffer in a first portion of memory that is allocated to an application program, when the state information of the connection corresponds to the entry in the delegated connection table; and forwarding the packet to a driver for filtering, when the state information of the connection does not correspond to the entry in the delegated connection table.