Patent ID: 7237018

Claim:
A method of sending data, comprising: obtaining a first predetermined value for a sequence number; obtaining blocks of data, wherein each of the blocks of data corresponds to a packet of data; assigning the first predetermined value as the sequence number to each of the packets of data, wherein at least two packets of data are assigned the same sequence number before the at least two packets of data are sent to a destination; incrementing the sequence number periodically, according to an amount of time between a first block of data being provided and a second block of data being provided, wherein the second block of data being provided depends upon the first block of data being provided; and in response to the sequence number becoming equal to a second predetermined value different from the first predetermined value, acknowledging receipt of the blocks of data corresponding to the packets of data that are assigned the first predetermined value as the sequence number and sending the packets of data that are assigned the first predetermined value as the sequence number to the destination, wherein packets of data associated with the same sequence number are sent to the destination in an order that is independent of an order in which the packets are obtained.