Patent ID: 8149866

Claim:
A method for filtering communications at a network interface controller of a computer system for transmittal to a device within the computer system, comprising: sending a request by the device to a network; receiving a communication from the network, wherein the communication comprises a first address field of an intended addressee of the communication and a second address field of an address of an addressee that caused the communication to be generated; determining at the network interface controller if the device caused the communication to be generated in response to the request, wherein the step of determining at the network interface controller if the device caused the communication to be generated comprises the steps of: providing a first register that includes the address of the device, providing a second register, wherein the second register is used to locate the second address field within the communication, and comparing the address included in the first register with the address in the second address field; if the device caused the communication to be generated in response to the request, transmitting the communication to the device; and if the device did not cause the communication to be generated in response to the request, blocking the communication from reaching the device.