Method for automatic initiation of data transmission
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A method for transmitting a frame of data from a host system through a network interface device to a network, comprising:
- executing a frame transfer task initiated in the host system to transfer a frame to a buffer memory in the network interface device; and
executing a frame transmission task in the network interface device to initiate transmission of the frame from the buffer memory to the network in parallel with the frame transfer task before the frame is completely transferred to the buffer memory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Early initiation of transmission of data in a network interface that includes a dedicated transmit buffer is provided in a system which includes logic for transferring frames of data composed by the host computer into the transmit buffer. The amount of data of a frame which is downloaded by the host to the transmit buffer is monitored to make a threshold determination of an amount of data of the frame resident in the transmit data buffer. The network interface controller includes logic for initiating transmission of the frame when the threshold determination indicates that a sufficient portion of the frame is resident in the transmit buffer, and prior to transfer of all of the data of the frame into the transmit buffer. The monitoring logic includes a threshold store, which is programmable by the host computer for storing a threshold value. Thus, the threshold value may be set by the host system to optimize performance in a given setting.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method for transmitting a frame of data from a host system through a network interface device to a network, comprising:
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executing a frame transfer task initiated in the host system to transfer a frame to a buffer memory in the network interface device; and executing a frame transmission task in the network interface device to initiate transmission of the frame from the buffer memory to the network in parallel with the frame transfer task before the frame is completely transferred to the buffer memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of transmitting frames of data from a host computer to a communications medium in a computer network, comprising:
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transferring data of a frame from the host computer to a buffer memory; monitoring the transfer of the data of the frame to the buffer memory to make a threshold determination of whether a threshold amount of data of the frame has been transferred to the buffer memory; and initiating transmission of the frame of data from the buffer memory to the communications medium in response to the threshold determination prior to transfer of all the data of the frame from the host computer to the buffer memory. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. The method of transmitting frames of data from a host computer to a communications medium of a network, comprising:
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receiving data of a frame from a host computer in a buffer memory; monitoring the amount of the data of the frame in the buffer memory to determine whether a threshold amount of data of the frame has been received in the buffer memory; initiating transmission of the frame of data from the buffer memory to the communications medium prior to receiving all the data of the frame from the host computer in the buffer memory in response to the threshold amount; detecting an underrun condition in which the receiving of the data of the frame into the buffer memory falls behind the transmission of the data from the buffer memory to the communications medium; supplying a bad frame signal to the communications medium in response to the underrun condition; and posting status information for use by the host computer as feedback for optimizing the threshold amount. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of controlling communication of data from a host system to a network transceiver coupled to a carrier sense, multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) computer network, comprising:
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transferring data of a frame from the host system to a buffer memory; monitoring the transfer of the data of the frame to the buffer memory to make a threshold determination on an amount of data of the frame transferred to the buffer memory; and initiating CSMA/CD transmission of the frame of data in the buffer memory to the network transceiver in response to the threshold determination prior to transfer of all the data of the frame from the host system to the buffer memory. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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39. A method for transmitting a frame of data from a host system through a network interface device to a network, comprising:
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initiating a frame transfer task in the host system to transfer a frame to a buffer memory in the network interface device; monitoring the frame transfer task in the network interface device; and executing a medium access task in the network interface device to initiate access to the network, and upon access transmitting the frame from the buffer memory to the network in parallel with the frame transfer task before the frame is completely transferred to the buffer memory. - View Dependent Claims (38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method for transmitting a frame of data from a host system through a network interface device to a network, comprising:
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executing a frame transfer task initiated in the host system to transfer a frame to a buffer memory in the network interface device; making a threshold determination based on a comparison of a count of data transferred into the buffer memory with a threshold value; executing a frame transmission task in the network interface device to initiate transmission of the frame from the buffer memory to the network in response to the threshold determination before the frame is completely transferred to the buffer memory; posting status information for use by the host system as feedback for the threshold value; and altering the threshold value based on the status information. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification