Merging result from a parser in a network processor with result from an external coprocessor

A network processor comprising:

• a processor bus;
• at least one processor connected to the processor bus;
• and
• a network adapter connected to the processor bus and an external coprocessor, wherein the network adapter comprises a result queue, an additional queue, a response register, a parser, and result queue management logic,
• wherein the result queue management logic enqueues in the result queue a parser result coming from the parser, wherein the parser result indicates whether the parser result is complete or needs to be completed by a coprocessor result from the external coprocessor;
• wherein result queue management logic enqueues in the additional queue an entry containing an address of the entry in the result queue and the indication that the parser result is complete or needs to be completed;
• wherein the result queue management logic determines whether a first entry in the additional queue refers to a parser result to be completed;
• and
• wherein responsive to determining the first entry in the additional queue refers to a parser result to be completed and responsive to receiving a coprocessor result in a response register, the result queue management logic merges the coprocessor result from the response register with a parser result read from the result queue using the address from the first entry in the additional queue to form a completed result, writes the completed result in the result queue, and exposes the completed result to a dequeue and sequential sending process for further processing by the network processor.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a network adapter in a network processor, causes the network adapter to:

• enqueue in a result queue a parser result coming from a parser, wherein the parser result indicates whether the parser result is complete or needs to be completed by a coprocessor result from the external coprocessor, wherein the network processor comprises a processor bus, at least one processor connected to the processor bus, and the network adapter connected to the processor bus and the external coprocessor;
• enqueue in an additional queue an entry containing an address of the entry in the result queue and the indication that the parser result is complete or needs to be completed;
• determine whether a first entry in the additional queue refers to a parser result to be completed;
• and
• responsive to determining the first entry in the additional queue refers to a parser result to be completed and responsive to receiving a coprocessor result in a response register, merge the coprocessor result from the response register with a parser result read from the result queue using the address from the first entry in the additional queue to form a completed result, write the completed result in the result queue, and
• expose the completed result to a dequeue and sequential sending process for further processing by the network processor.