# US 2014/0156867 A1 · Offload processing interface > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0156867 A1 - Document ID: US20140156867A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/692,072 - Filed: 2012-12-03 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2012-12-03 - Assignees: Broadcom Corporation - Applicants: Broadcom Corporation - Inventors: Shahram Davari - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140156867A1 ## CPC - H04L 45/44: Distributed routing - H04L 43/028: by filtering - H04L 43/50: Testing arrangements - H04L 45/60: Router architectures - H04L 41/0213: Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP] - H04L 43/106: using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract Disclosed are various embodiments providing offload processing circuitry of a network switch. The offload processing circuitry receives an administrative packet from a network switch, the offload processing circuitry being communicatively coupled to a network switch via an Ethernet interface. The offload processing circuitry identifies a receive offload header associated with the administrative packet, the receive offload header comprising a media access control (MAC) address associated with the offload processing circuitry. The offload processing circuitry updates a state machine based at least upon the administrative packet. The offload processing circuitry transmits packets to a network switch by encapsulating it in offload header. The network switch uses the offload header to forward the packet to a proper port. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: a plurality of ports, each port being configured to receive packets; and a receive module, the receive module being configured to: determine whether a received packet is an administrative packet that requires processing; encapsulate the administrative packet with an offload header, the offload header comprising a port identifier that specifies one of the plurality of ports; and route the administrative packet to the one of the plurality of ports to facilitate an offload processing of the administrative packet. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein each port comprises an Ethernet port. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the administrative packet is selected from a group consisting of an Operations, Administration and Management (OAM) packet, a time synchronization protocol packet, an Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) packet, and an Alarm Indication Signal (AIS) packet. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising a peripheral interface configured communicatively coupled to a central processing unit (CPU) to provide a supplemental offload processing of the administrative packet. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the receive module is further configured to encapsulate the administrative packet with an Ethernet header, the Ethernet header specifying at least one of a source Media Access Control (MAC) address or a destination MAC address. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the offload header comprises virtual local area network (VLAN) data. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein encapsulating the administrative packet with the offload header comprises identifying the one of the plurality of ports based at least upon a type of operation performed by the offload processing. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein each port is configured to be communicatively coupled to a corresponding offload processor via an Ethernet interface, the offload processor being configured to perform the offload processing. ### Claim 9 A system comprising: a plurality of ports, wherein at least one of the plurality of ports is configured to be communicatively coupled to offload processing circuitry via a local area network (LAN) interface; and a transmit module, the transmit module being configured to: receive a packet via the at least one of the plurality of ports, the packet comprising an offload header; authenticate the packet based at least upon a media access control (MAC) address associated with the offload header; determine a destination port based at least upon the offload header; the plurality of ports comprising the destination port; and route the packet to the destination port. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the LAN interface comprises an Ethernet interface. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the packet is selected from a group consisting of an Operations, Administration and Management (OAM) packet, a time synchronization protocol packet, an Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) packet, and an Alarm Indication Signal (AIS) packet. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the transmit module is further configured to remove the offload header from the packet in response to a destination associated with the packet being local with respect to the transmit module. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the transmit module is configured to authenticate the packet based at least upon an Ethertype included in the offload header. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein the offload header comprises virtual local area network (VLAN) data. ### Claim 15 A method for offload processing circuitry, the method comprising: receiving, by the offload processing circuitry, an administrative packet from a network switch, the offload processing circuitry being communicatively coupled to the network switch via an Ethernet interface; identifying a receive offload header associated with the administrative packet, the receive offload header comprising a media access control (MAC) address associated with the offload processing circuitry; and updating a state machine based at least upon the administrative packet. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further comprising: determining whether to generate a reply packet based at least upon the received administrative packet; and generating the reply packet and encapsulating the reply packet with a transmit offload header. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the transmit offload header comprises a packet priority to prioritize the reply packet in the network switch. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the transmit offload header comprises at least one of a timestamp or a counter. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further comprising: generating a test packet and encapsulating the test packet with a transmit offload header, the test packet comprising a destination address; and sending the test packet to the network switch via the Ethernet interface. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19, wherein the test packet is selected from a group consisting of a connectivity verification packet, a loopback packet, and a delay measurement packet.