System and method for low latency packet processing

A method for processing data packets, the method comprising:

• receiving, via a network interface, a message;
• retrieving a work queue element (WQE) index identifying a position of an inline WQE in a receive queue;
• determining, via a packet processing circuitry, that the message is associated with a small payload that does not require writing to one or more memory indices associated with a memory;
• processing, via the packet processing circuitry, the message without consuming the WQE;
• generating, via the packet processing circuitry, a completion queue element (CQE) indicating that the message was processed without consuming the WQE, thereby uncoupling a correlation between the WQE and the CQE;
• receiving, via the network interface, a subsequent message;
• and
• processing, via the packet processing circuitry, the subsequent message using the WQE.

A computer program product for processing data packets, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code configured to cause an apparatus to:

• receive, via a network interface, a message;
• retrieve, via a packet processing circuitry, a work queue element (WQE) index identifying a position of an inline WQE in a receive queue;
• determine that the message is associated with a small payload that does not require writing to one or more memory indices associated with a memory;
• process, via the packet processing circuitry, the message without consuming the WQE;
• generate, via the packet processing circuitry, a completion queue element (CQE) indicating that the message was processed without consuming the WQE, thereby uncoupling a correlation between the WQE and the CQE;
• receive, via a network interface, a subsequent message;
• and
• process, via the packet processing circuitry, the subsequent message using the WQE.