Recycling buffer pointers using a prefetch buffer
US8266344B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 24, 2009 |
| Grant date | Sep 11, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 28, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L49/9063
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A network device may include an off-chip memory to store a free-list of buffer pointers. The network device may further include an on-chip controller that includes a prefetch buffer. The prefetch buffer may store unallocated buffer pointers that point to available memory locations in a different off-chip memory. The on-chip controller may receive an unallocated buffer pointer, determine, in response to receiving the unallocated buffer pointer, whether the prefetch buffer is full, store the unallocated buffer pointer in the prefetch buffer when the prefetch buffer is determined not to be full, and store the unallocated buffer pointer in the free-list, in the off-chip memory, when the prefetch buffer is determined to be full.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.