Patent attributes
A method and apparatus for facilitating transfer of packets from communication hardware to a host computing device or software. After receiving s set of packets at a communication interface, the system writes in a hybrid buffer a type II completion line configured to identify a payload buffer in which payloads of packets are stored. For each packet, the system writes a type I completion line configured to indicate the length of a packet's header in the hybrid buffer and the length and/or offset of the packet's payload in the payload buffer. A type 0 completion line indicates that no more packets are stored in the payload buffer. The system then signals the host computing device by configuring a single completion descriptor to identify the hybrid buffer in which the completion lines are stored. The host computing device reads the single completion descriptor to process the packets.