Patent ID: 7376149

Claim:
A protocol bridge for bridging a first protocol network to a second protocol network, comprising: a first network interface coupled to a network device on a first network having the first protocol; a second network interface coupled to a network processor over a second network having the second protocol; and, wherein said protocol bridge receives network transfers on behalf of the network processor when a field in a received frame indicates that the protocol bridge should operate in a first mode, and initiates network transfers on behalf of the network processor when the field in the received frame indicates that the protocol bridge should operate in a second mode; wherein said protocol bridge operates in the first mode based on information from a received frame header field, and wherein when said received frame header field further indicates that the first mode is a target mode and that the protocol bridge is to perform a target mode read operation, said protocol bridge to, provide a command frame to the network processor over the second network interface in accordance with the second protocol, receive a data frame from the network processor that is sent in response to said command frame, and transmit, over the first network interface, a payload of the data frame to the network device in accordance with the first protocol; wherein said protocol bridge, in performing said target mode read operation, is further to, receive a status frame from the network processor that includes a response command, transmit said response command to the network device in accordance with the first protocol, and transmit an acknowledgement frame to the network processor in accordance with the second protocol indicating that the target read operation is complete.