Network transport accelerator
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A network endpoint system for responding to requests delivered in packet form having a networking protocol via a network, comprising:
- a transport accelerator unit having at least a network processor programmed to receive packets and to perform at least some processing of the network/transport protocol;
at least one processing unit programmed to receive the packets from the network processor and to respond to the requests; and
an interconnection medium for directly connecting the network processor to the processing unit.
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Abstract
A network endpoint system receives requests delivered in packet format via a network. The system uses a transport accelerator at its front end, which performs all or some of the network protocol processing. The transport accelerator is directly connected to one or more processing units, which respond to the requests. The protocol processing may be partitioned between the transport accelerator and the processing units in a manner that best uses their different processing capabilities.
247 Citations
98 Claims
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1. A network endpoint system for responding to requests delivered in packet form having a networking protocol via a network, comprising:
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a transport accelerator unit having at least a network processor programmed to receive packets and to perform at least some processing of the network/transport protocol;
at least one processing unit programmed to receive the packets from the network processor and to respond to the requests; and
an interconnection medium for directly connecting the network processor to the processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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17. A method of processing network packets at a network endpoint system that responds to requests delivered in packet form having a networking protocol via a network, comprising the steps of:
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directly connecting a transport accelerator, which has at least a network processor, to one or more processing units;
receiving the packets at the transport accelerator;
using the transport accelerator to perform at least some processing of the network/transport protocol;
delivering the packets to at least one processing unit; and
using the processing unit to respond to the requests.
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28. A transport accelerator device for use at a network endpoint, comprising:
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a network processor programmed to receive packets and to perform at least some processing of the network/transport protocol a front end interface for connecting the transport accelerator to a network; and
a back end interface for connecting the transport accelerator to an interconnection medium.
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41. A network connectable computing system, the system being configured to be connected on at least one end to a network, the system comprising:
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at least one network connection configured to be coupled to the network;
a first system processor for performing system functionality;
a second system processor located in a data path between the network connection and the at first system processor; and
an interconnection between the at least one processor and the second system processor, wherein the second system processor processes a portion of data packets provided to the system from the network and then forwards the data packets data packets to the remainder of the system so that the system functionality may be performed upon the data packets - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
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49. A method of operating a network connected computing system, comprising:
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receiving data from a network;
analyzing the data with a network interface engine to decode incoming data packet headers;
removing at least a portion of the data packet headers of at least some data packets and replacing the removed headers with contextually meaningful data based upon the analysis of the data packet header; and
forwarding the data packet to at least a first system processor through a system interconnection after replacing the removed headers.
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58. A method accelerating the operation of a network connected computing system, comprising:
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receiving, in a network interface engine, data packets from a network, the data packets provided in a layered protocol;
analyzing a plurality of lower ordered layers of the data packets with the network interface engine;
replacing the lowered order layers of the data packets with additional data;
transmitting the data packet containing the additional data to at least a first system engine, the first system engine having accelerated operation due to processing the additional data as compared to processing the plurality of lower ordered layers.
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66. A network endpoint system for performing endpoint functionality, the endpoint system comprising:
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at least one system processor, the system processor performing endpoint processing functionality;
a distributed interconnect coupled to the at least one system processor; and
a network interface engine coupled to the distributed interconnect, wherein the system is configured such that a data packet from a network may be processed by the network interface engine prior to being processed by the at least one system processor, the processing by the network interface engine comprising replacing at least a portion of lower ordered protocol layers with an identifier associated with the content of the removed lower ordered layers. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. A method of operating a network endpoint system, comprising:
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providing a network processor within the network endpoint system, the network processor being at an interface which couples the network endpoint system to a network;
processing data packets passing through the interface with the network processor;
removing portions of the data packets layers as part of the processing of the network processor; and
forwarding incoming network data from the network processor to a system processor which performs at least some endpoint functionality upon the data. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
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86. A network connectable computing system, comprising:
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a first connection to receive data packets from a network;
a network interface engine comprising at least one network processor, the network processor coupled to the interface connection; and
a second connection to transmit data processed by the network interface engine, wherein the at least one network processor analyzes the data packets and removes at least a portion of the headers of the data packets and replaces the removed portions with identifiers which may be utilized to reduced subsequent processor workloads. - View Dependent Claims (87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98)
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Specification