Protocol stack that offloads a TCP connection from a host computer to a network interface device

• US 7,844,743 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2004
• Issued: 11/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Alacritech, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Alacritech, Inc.
• Inventors: Higgen, David A., Philbrick, Clive M., Boucher, Laurence B., Craft, Peter K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughn; William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shingles; Kristie D
• Application Number:
  US11/016,642
• Publication Number:
  US 20060075130A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,175 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/250, 709/230, 709/245
• US Class Current: 709/250
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 7/36 using image sharpness techniques , e.g. image processing techniques for generating autofocus signals image data processing per se G06T; in cameras having a solid state image sensor H04N23/67
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/90 Buffering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/9042 Separate storage for different parts of the packet, e.g. header and payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/9063 Intermediate storage in different physical parts of a node or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/10 of different types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/12 Protocol engines
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/163 In-band adaptation of TCP data exchange; In-band control procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/166 IP fragmentation; TCP segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A host CPU runs a network protocol processing stack that provides instructions not only to process network messages but also to allocate processing of certain network messages to a specialized network communication device, offloading some of the most time consuming protocol processing from the host CPU to the network communication device. By allocating common and time consuming network processes to the device, while retaining the ability to handle less time intensive and more varied processing on the host stack, the network communication device can be relatively simple and cost effective. The host CPU, operating according to instructions from the stack, and the network communication device together determine whether and to what extent a given message is processed by the host CPU or by the network communication device.

Claims

1. A method for communication by a host computer that is connectable to a network by a specialized network interface, the method comprising:

running a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection on the host, the TCP connection being at least in part identified by a local Internet Protocol (IP) address, a local TCP port, a remote IP address and a remote TCP port, including maintaining TCP state information for the connection by the host; and

offloading the TCP connection from the host to the network interface, including updating the TCP state information by the network interface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network interface includes a network interface card (NIC).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the offloading includes transferring the TCP connection to the NIC.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the network interface includes a device driver for the NIC.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the NIC has a device driver and the offloading is performed by transferring the TCP connection to the NIC via the device driver.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network interface includes a communication processing device (CPD).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of running and offloading are performed by an operating system of the host computer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of running and offloading are performed by a protocol processing stack of the host computer.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing, by the network interface, a packet containing data corresponding to the TCP connection; and

storing, by the network interface, the data in a destination in the host that is associated with the local TCP port.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transferring control of the TCP connection from the network interface to the host.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing, by the network interface, TCP processing on a packet corresponding to the TCP connection.

12. A method for communication by a host computer that is connectable to a network by an intelligent network interface card (NIC), the method comprising:

running a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection on the host, the TCP connection being at least in part identified by a local Internet Protocol (IP) address, a local TCP port, a remote IP address and a remote TCP port, the TCP connection containing a set of state variables; and

transferring the TCP connection from the host to the NIC.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the NIC has a device driver and the TCP connection is transferred from the host to the NIC via the device driver.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the NIC has a device driver and the transferring includes passing state information for the TCP connection to the device driver.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the transferring includes a step for handing out the TCP connection from the host to the NIC via a device driver.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the steps of running and transferring are performed by an operating system of the host computer.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the steps of running and transferring are performed by a protocol processing stack of the host computer.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

processing, by the NIC, a packet containing data corresponding to the TCP connection; and

storing, by the NIC, the data in a destination corresponding to the local TCP port.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

transferring control of the TCP connection from the NIC to the host.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the transferring control includes a step for flushing the TCP connection from the NIC to the host.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

performing, by the NIC, TCP processing on a packet corresponding to the TCP connection.

22. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

processing, by the NIC, a packet containing data corresponding to the TCP connection; and

storing, by the NIC, the data in a destination in the host that is associated with the local TCP port.

23. A method for communication by a host computer that is connectable to a network by an intelligent network interface card (NIC), the method comprising:

running a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection by a protocol processing stack of the host computer, the TCP connection being at least in part identified by a local Internet Protocol (IP) address, a local TCP port, a remote IP address and a remote TCP port, including maintaining TCP state information for the connection by the protocol processing stack; and

offloading the TCP connection from the protocol processing stack to the NIC, including updating the TCP state information by the NIC.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the NIC has a device driver and the offloading includes transferring the TCP connection to the NIC via the device driver.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the NIC has a device driver and the offloading includes transferring the state information for the TCP connection to the device driver.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the NIC has a device driver and the offloading includes a step for handing out the TCP connection via the device driver.

27. The method of claim 23, further comprising transferring control of the TCP connection from the NIC to the protocol stack.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the transferring control includes a step for flushing the TCP connection from the NIC to the protocol stack.

29. The method of claim 23, further comprising transferring the state information from the NIC to the protocol stack.

30. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

processing, by the NIC, a packet containing data corresponding to the TCP connection; and

storing, by the NIC, the data in a destination in the host that is associated with the local TCP port.