Intelligent network interface system and method for protocol processing

A method for network communication by a host computer having a network interface that is connected to the host by an input/output bus, the method comprising:

• receiving, by the network interface, a first packet having a header including source and destination Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and source and destination Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) ports;
• protocol processing, by the host computer, the first packet, thereby initializing a TCP connection that is defined by the source and destination IP addresses and source and destination TCP ports;
• receiving, by the network interface, a second packet having a second header and payload data, wherein the second header has IP addresses and TCP ports that match the IP addresses and TCP ports of the TCP connection;
• receiving, by the network interface, a third packet having a third header and additional payload data, wherein the third header has IP addresses and TCP ports that match the IP addresses and TCP ports of the TCP connection;
• checking, by the network interface, whether the second and third packets have certain exception conditions, including checking whether the packets are IP fragmented, checking whether the packets have a FIN flag set, and checking whether the packets are out of order;
• if the second packet has any of the exception conditions, then protocol processing the second packet by the host computer;
• if the third packet has any of the exception conditions, then protocol processing the third packet by the host computer;
• if the second and third packets do not have any of the exception conditions, then storing the payload data of the second and third packets together in a buffer of the host computer, such that the payload data is stored in the buffer in order and without any TCP header stored between the payload data of the second and third packets.