Network Adapter with Time-Aware Packet-Processing Pipeline

A method for packet processing, comprising:

• in a network adapter, receiving a packet from a host via a host interface, or from a communication network via a network interface;
• receiving in the network adapter an indication of a network time that serves as a common time-base for synchronizing network elements in the communication network;
• and
• matching the packet to a rule using a match engine in the network adapter, the rule comprising a condition and an action, and performing the action in response to the packet meeting the condition, wherein the condition in the rule includes a comparison of a first value of the network time to a periodic time-range defined relative to a second value of the network time obtained by masking selected bits of the first value of the network time to generate a masked time value and comparing the masked time value to the second value of the network time.

A network adapter, comprising:

• a hardware-implemented host interface configured to communicate with a host;
• a hardware-implemented network interface configured to communicate with a communication network;
• and
• packet processing circuitry, configured to:
• receive a packet from the host via the host interface, or from the communication network via the network interface;
• receive an indication of a network time that serves as a common time-base for synchronizing network elements in the communication network;
• and
• match the packet to a rule, the rule comprising a condition and an action, and perform the action in response to the packet meeting the condition, wherein the action in the rule includes forcing the packet to depart from the network adapter at a time that is specified based on the network time.

A method for packet processing, comprising:

• in a network adapter, receiving a packet from a host via a host interface, or from a communication network via a network interface;
• receiving in the network adapter an indication of a network time that serves as a common time-base for synchronizing network elements in the communication network;
• and
• matching the packet to a rule using a match engine in the network adapter, the rule comprising a condition and an action, and performing the action in response to the packet meeting the condition, wherein the action in the rule includes forcing the packet to depart from the network adapter at a departure time that is specified based on the network time.