Protocol header alignment
US5802064A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 14, 1996 |
| Grant date | Sep 1, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 14, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L69/321
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention provides a method for achieving alignment of the header fields of a specific layer, such as the transport layer header fields, at a receiving host. The receiving host determines a number of padding bytes that need to be added to the transport layer header for the fields to be properly aligned in the memory of the receiving host. This number is determined dynamically for each connection because different connections require different numbers of padding bytes. The number of padding bytes for a connection is determined by the receiving host from the first packet received for a particular connection. Specifically, the receiving host examines this first packet and determines the position of the first byte of the transport layer protocol header, and therefore, the number of padding bytes required to achieve 32-bit (or 64 bit) alignment. The receiving host communicates the number of padding bytes to the transmitting host. The transmitting host then adds the specified number of padding bytes to the beginning of the transport layer header for the subsequently transmitted packets for this connection. The format of the padding bytes is such that when the receiving host r…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.