Method and apparatus for processing packets
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsOmar Cardona, James Brian Cunningham, Baltazar De Leon, III, Jeffrey Paul Messing
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for processing packets for transmission. A set of interface specific network buffers is identified from a plurality of buffers containing data for a packet received for transmission. A data structure describing the set of interface specific network buffers within the plurality of buffers is created, wherein a section in the data structure for an interface specific network buffer in the set of interface specific network buffers includes information about a piece of data in interface specific network buffer, wherein the data structure is used to process the packet for transmission.
Claims20
A method of transmitting data from an interface adapter of a computer system, the method comprising:
- collecting a set of data buffers for transmission in a packet by the interface adapter;
- generating a buffer list containing entries describing the collected set of data buffers, wherein the set of data buffers includes interface specific buffers and non-interface specific buffers;
- and
- parsing the buffer list by a device driver associated with the interface adapter to transmit the data, wherein for each entry of the buffer list, the device driver determines whether or not the corresponding buffer is an interface specific buffer, and responsive to determining that the corresponding buffer is not an interface specific buffer, further processing the data in the corresponding buffer to provide a registered buffer containing the data to the interface adapter, and responsive to determining that the corresponding buffer is an interface specific buffer, the device driver provides the interface specific buffer directly to the interface adapter without further processing the data.
A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing program instructions for execution within a computer system wherein the program instructions comprise a device driver for communicating with an interface adapter, the program instructions comprising program instructions for:
- collecting a set of data buffers for transmission in a packet by the interface adapter;
- generating a buffer list containing entries describing the collected set of data buffers, wherein the set of data buffers includes interface specific buffers and non-interface specific buffers;
- and
- parsing the buffer list by a device driver associated with the interface adapter to transmit the data, wherein for each entry of the buffer list, the device driver determines whether or not the corresponding buffer is an interface specific buffer, and responsive to determining that the corresponding buffer is not an interface specific buffer, further processing the data in the corresponding buffer to provide a registered buffer containing the data to the interface adapter, and responsive to determining that the corresponding buffer is an interface specific buffer, the device driver provides the interface specific buffer directly to the interface adapter without further processing the data.
A computer system comprising a processor for executing program instructions coupled to a memory for storing the program instructions, wherein the program instructions comprise program instructions for communicating with an interface adapter, the program instructions comprising program instructions for:
- collecting a set of data buffers for transmission in a packet by the interface adapter;
- generating a buffer list containing entries describing the collected set of data buffers, wherein the set of data buffers includes interface specific buffers and non-interface specific buffers;
- and
- parsing the buffer list by a device driver associated with the interface adapter to transmit the data, wherein for each entry of the buffer list, the device driver determines whether or not the corresponding buffer is an interface specific buffer, and responsive to determining that the corresponding buffer is not an interface specific buffer, further processing the data in the corresponding buffer to provide a registered buffer containing the data to the interface adapter, and responsive to determining that the corresponding buffer is an interface specific buffer, the device driver provides the interface specific buffer directly to the interface adapter without further processing the data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.