Patent ID: 7269661

Claim:
A method for a processor to process an incoming network packet, the processor comprising: a. A network interface adapted for connection to a communication network; b. A receive protocol aware logic module; c. A user interface adapted to pass a data payload; d. A processor unit with network stack; and e. Shared buffer accessible by: the network interface, the user interface, and the processor unit with network stack; The Method Comprising: A) the network interface receiving a network packet from the network destined for a first existing socket and writing the network packet to a segment of memory in the shared buffer, the network packet having the properties of: a. having at least one checksum indicating a non-corrupted transmission; and b. addressed to an existing socket; the network packet comprising: a. a transport header; b. a protocol header; and c. a data payload; B) the receive protocol aware logic module detecting the process of writing of the network packet to the shared buffer and confirming that a checksum value contained in the protocol header matches a newly calculated checksum; and C) the processor with network stack starting to process the protocol header of the network packet while the network interface is writing the network packet to the segment of memory in the shared buffer.