Patent ID: 8583822

Claim:
A method for communicating data, the method comprising: receiving a network frame; encapsulating the network frame as an encapsulated protocol frame; determining whether a size of the encapsulated protocol frame is less than a size of an Ethernet frame; adjusting the size of the encapsulated protocol frame that is less than the size of the Ethernet frame by inserting one or more padding bits in the encapsulated protocol frame; determining an offset value, wherein said offset value is measured relative to a defined location of the encapsulated protocol frame and identifies a starting location of said one or more padding bits within said encapsulated protocol frame; and inserting said offset value within a start-of-padding field contained in a header for said encapsulated protocol frame, wherein an encapsulated protocol of said encapsulated protocol frame comprises one or more of Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA).