Apparatus and a method for secure communications for network computers
US6922785B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 11, 2000 |
| Grant date | Jul 26, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 11, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2209/12
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Encryption hardware built on a network interface card is provided by the present invention for encrypting data sent from a computer to a network. A block of data is retrieved from the network interface card, encrypted using encryption hardware, and inserted into a data packet. A flag is set in the packet header to indicate the encryption type. If the data packet is received by a system equipped with similar network interface card, decryption algorithm indicated by the flag is applied to the data using decryption hardware on the network interface card. The decrypted data is sent to re-assembly logic to rebuild the original message for the transmitted packets. The original message is sent to a computer memory via a system bus for further processing. If the data packet is received by a system not equipped with the network interface card, suitable software is provided to decrypt the data packet.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.