System for allocating an integer unit of memory greater than a requested size and filling the extra space due to difference in sizes with extraneous data
US6148350A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 29, 1998 |
| Grant date | Nov 14, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 29, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F13/385
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and system for efficiently transferring data between a host computer and a peripheral component which is removably coupled to the host computer. In one embodiment of the present invention, a peripheral component driver such as, for example, a network interface card driver receives a request from a peripheral component, such as, for example, a network interface card, to transfer data from the peripheral component to memory of the host computer. The data to be transferred requires a first block of memory in the host computer wherein the first block of the memory has a first size. The present embodiment then allocates a second block of memory in the host computer to receive the data from the peripheral component. In the present invention, the second block of memory has a second size which is greater than the first size. Additionally, the second block of memory comprises an integer unit of the memory. In so doing, the present invention minimizes CPU overhead associated with data transfers between a peripheral component and the memory of a host computer. The present invention also reduces latency associated with data transfers between a peripheral component and the memory of a …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.