Fast-path apparatus for receiving data corresponding to a TCP connection

A method for communicating information over a network, the method comprising:

• obtaining data from a source in memory allocated by a first processor;
• dividing the data into multiple segments;
• prepending a packet header to each of the segments by a second processor, thereby forming a packet corresponding to each segment, each packet header containing a media access control layer header, a network layer header and a transport layer header, wherein the network layer header is Internet Protocol (IP), the transport layer header is Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the media access control layer header, the network layer header and the transport layer header are prepended at one time as a sequence of bits during the prepending of each packet header;
• and
• transmitting the packets to the network.

A method for communicating information over a network, the method comprising:

• providing, by a first mechanism, a block of data and a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection;
• dividing, by a second mechanism, the block of data into multiple segments;
• prepending, by the second mechanism, an outbound packet header to each of the segments, thereby forming an outbound packet corresponding to each segment, the outbound packet header containing an outbound media access control layer header, an outbound Internet Protocol (IP) header and an outbound TCP header, wherein the prepending of each outbound packet header occurs without an interrupt dividing the prepending of the outbound media access control layer header, the outbound (IP) header and the outbound TCP header;
• and
• transmitting the outbound packets to the network.