Method for managing network data transfers with minimal host processor involvement
US6185607A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 26, 1998 |
| Grant date | Feb 6, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 26, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L69/08
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method for managing data transfers with minimal host processor involvement. Data is transferred between a peripheral device coupled to a host computer and a network device over a high performance bus. In one exemplary embodiment, data is transferred over a bus utilizing the IEEE 1394 communication protocol and a network utilizing the Ethernet communication protocol. The novel data transfer method advantageously minimizes the involvement of the host computer's processor in the management of data transfers, thus maximizing the host processor's availability for performing other computations. Specifically, to transfer data from the peripheral device to the network, the host processor generates a data pointer table and sends it to the network device. A processor in the network device then takes over data transfer management, using information in the data pointer table to locate and transmit the designated block of data from the peripheral device to the network. In another embodiment, the present invention determines whether the size of a data block to be transferred exceeds the maximum packet size for the relevant communication protocol used by the bus or the network. If such a limit …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.