System for querying a peripheral device to determine its processing capabilities and then offloading specific processing tasks from a host to the peripheral device when needed
US6141705A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 12, 1998 |
| Grant date | Oct 31, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 12, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L69/321
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a method and computer program product for offloading specific processing tasks that would otherwise be performed in a computer system's processor and memory, to a peripheral device, or devices, that are connected to the computer. The computing task is then performed by the peripheral, thereby saving computer system resources for other computing tasks and increasing the overall computing efficiency of the computer system. In one preferred embodiment, the disclosed method is utilized in a layered network model, wherein computing tasks that are typically performed in network applications are instead offloaded to the network interface card (NIC) peripheral. An application executing on the computer system first queries the processing, or task offload capabilities of the NIC, and then selectively enables those capabilities that may be subsequently needed by the application. The specific processing capabilities of a NIC are made available by creating a task offload buffer data structure, which contains data indicative of the processing capabilities of the corresponding NIC. Once an application has discerned the capabilities of a particular NIC, it will…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.