Non-contiguous data transfer techniques with multiple digital interfaces

A method comprising:

• receiving, by a data transfer controller connected to a first digital interface of a computer system, an instruction to distribute a plurality of data elements of a contiguous data block to a plurality of non-contiguous addresses in a memory of the computer system, wherein the contiguous data block is associated with a peripheral device connected to the first digital interface;
• receiving, from the peripheral device via the first digital interface, an indication that a write transaction using the first digital interface is complete, wherein the write transaction corresponds to a transfer of the contiguous data block from the peripheral device to a buffer;
• reading the plurality of data elements from the contiguous data block in the buffer;
• and
• writing, via a plurality of scatter transactions on a second digital interface, the plurality of data elements to the plurality of non-contiguous addresses in the memory of the computer system, wherein the second digital interface is connected to the data transfer controller and the memory of the computer system, wherein the second digital interface allows for use of a subset of overhead data of the first digital interface for the plurality of scatter transactions, and wherein the subset of overhead data of the first digital interface for the plurality of scatter transactions comprises at least one of:
• source/destination addresses, packet headers, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) values, parity bits, timestamps, version numbers, or data types.

A method comprising:

• receiving, by a data transfer controller connected to a first digital interface of a computer system, an instruction to transfer a plurality of non-contiguous data elements from a first process memory space in a memory of the computer system to a plurality of respective non-contiguous addresses in a second process memory space in the memory of the computer system;
• reading, via a plurality of gather transactions on a second digital interface, the plurality of non-contiguous data elements from the first process memory space, wherein the second digital interface is connected to the data transfer controller and the memory of the computer system, wherein the second digital interface allows for use of a subset of overhead data of the first digital interface for the plurality of gather transactions, and wherein the subset of overhead data of the first digital interface for the plurality of gather transactions comprises at least one of:
• source/destination addresses, packet headers, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) values, parity bits, timestamps, version numbers, or data types;
• and
• writing, via a plurality of scatter transactions on the second digital interface, the plurality of non-contiguous data elements to the plurality of respective non-contiguous addresses in the second process memory space.

A system for high-speed network communication in a data center, the system comprising:

• one or more processing units;
• a memory coupled to the one or more processing units;
• a network interface coupled to the one or more processing units and the memory;
• and
• a data transfer controller coupled to the one or more processing units, the memory, and the network interface, wherein the data transfer controller is to perform operations comprising:
• receiving, from the one or more processing units via a first digital interface, an instruction to prepare a plurality of non-contiguous data elements in the memory for transfer to the network interface, wherein the network interface is connected to the first digital interface;
• reading, via a plurality of gather transactions on a second digital interface, the plurality of non-contiguous data elements from the memory, wherein the second digital interface is connected to the data transfer controller and the memory, and wherein the second digital interface allows for use of a subset of overhead data of the first digital interface for the plurality of gather transactions, and wherein the subset of overhead data of the first digital interface for the plurality of gather transactions comprises at least one of:
• source/destination addresses, packet headers, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) values, parity bits, timestamps, version numbers, or data types;
• writing the plurality of non-contiguous data elements into a contiguous data block in a buffer;
• and
• providing, to the network interface via the first digital interface, an indication that the contiguous data block is available for transfer from the buffer to the network interface via the first digital interface.