Abstract: A communication device transmits a first packet to a first device via a network device, and receives a second packet from the first device. A transmission time between the communication device and the first device is calculated using time indicated by the communication device when the communication device transmitted the first packet, time indicated by the first device when the first device received the first packet, time indicated by the first device when the first device transmitted the second packet, time indicated by the communication device when the communication device received the second packet. A size of the first packet is set so that wait time of the first packet at the network device is within predetermined period. The wait time is calculated by assuming that a third packet transmitted from a second device is inputted to the network device before the first packet is inputted to the network device.

Abstract: A data collection system for, and methods of, providing reliable store-and-forward data handling by encoded information reading terminals can utilize ad-hoc peer-to-peer (i.e., terminal-to-terminal) connections in order to store data that is normally stored on a single terminal only, in a redundant manner on two or more terminals. Each portable encoded information reading terminal can be configured so that when it captures data, a software application causes the terminal to search out nearby peer terminals that can store and/or forward the data to other peer terminals or to a data collection server, resulting in the data having been stored by one or more peer terminals that are immediately or not immediately accessible by the data-originating terminal.

Abstract: An apparatus for policing traffic in a communication network is provided. The apparatus includes a packet distributor, a plurality of policing units, and a token management unit. The packet distributor evenly distributes packets that have arrived at the apparatus. Each policing unit determines whether a packet distributed from the packet distributor is permitted to be passed or discarded in accordance with an amount of tokens remaining in a first token bucket provided for the each policing unit, and issues a token request for requesting supply of tokens when an amount of tokens remaining in the first token bucket falls below a first threshold value. The token management unit supplies tokens in units of a predetermined amount to the first token bucket for which the token request has been issued, in accordance with an amount of tokens remaining in a second bucket provided for the token management unit.

Abstract: A network element includes an ingress interface, a VSP queue, and a switch fabric (SWF). The ingress interface includes a first virtual subport (VSP) and a second VSP. The first VSP is configured to receive data traffic. The VSP queue is coupled to the second VSP such that data traffic transmitted to the VSP queue is transmitted from the network element via the second VSP. The SWF is configured to receive data traffic from the first VSP, determine whether an intended recipient of the data traffic is associated with the second VSP, and hairpin the data traffic to the VSP queue when the SWF determines that the intended recipient is associated with the second VSP.

Abstract: A method, performed by a user equipment (UE), for transmitting Buffer Status Reporting (BSR) information from the UE to a base station (BS) in a wireless telecommunication network, includes storing data to be transmitted, via a logical channel, in a transmission buffer, the logical channel being provided with a priority level and a specific Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR) parameter indicating a resource level to allocate to the UE for transmitting the stored data, wherein the BSR information represents an amount of data present in the transmission buffer of the UE, receiving new uplink data belonging to a logical channel for which no data already existed in the UE transmission buffer, and transmitting Buffer Status Reporting information upon receipt of the new uplink data.

Abstract: Packets having at least one cell are switched using input queues, output queues, a switch fabric, and a controller. Each input queue stores cells to be switched, and each output queue stores switched cells. The switch fabric couples the input queues to the output queues and has memory. The switch fabric stores cells moved from the input queues to the switch fabric and stores cells based on the output queues. The controller couples to the input queues and the switch fabric and determines input priorities for cells moving from the input queues to the switch fabric and output priorities for cells moving from the switch fabric to the output queues.

Abstract: A set of techniques is described for performing input/output (I/O) between a guest domain and a host domain in a virtualized environment. A pool of memory buffers is reserved for performing virtualized I/O operations. The reserved pool of memory buffers has static mappings that grant access to both the guest domain and the host domain. When a request to perform an I/O operation is received, the system can determine whether the memory buffers allocated to the I/O operation belong to the reserved pool. If the buffers are in the reserved pool, the host domain executes the I/O operation using the buffers without the need to map/unmap the buffers and perform TLB flushes. If the buffers are not in the reserved pool, the system can either copy the data into the reserved pool or perform the mapping and unmapping of the memory buffers to the address space of the host domain.

Abstract: A packet buffering device includes: a queue for temporarily holding an arriving packet; a residence time predicting unit which predicts a length of time during which the arriving packet will reside in the queue; and a packet discarding unit which discards the arriving packet when the length of time predicted by the residence time predicting unit exceeds a first reference value.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method for a managed forwarding element that operates on a host machine to process packets for at least one logical network. The method receives a packet that includes a particular piece of data to maintain with the packet. The particular piece of data is not stored in a payload of the packet and is not protocol-specific data. The method stores the particular piece of data in a register while processing the packet. The method identifies a next destination of the packet that operates on the host machine. The method generates an object to represent the packet for the identified destination. The particular piece of data is stored in a field of the generated object.

Abstract: A network switch including a port receiving a first frame. A memory includes first buffers available to store frames and second buffers reserved for the port. A pointer module stores first pointers for the first buffers. A reserve module includes a counter, requests from the pointer module some of the first pointers, and increments the counter to count a number of pointers reserved for the first port. The pointers received from the pointer module are deemed reserved and as a result the first buffers, pointed to by the pointers received from the pointer module, are included in the second buffers. An ingress module stores the first frame in some of the second buffers and determines a destination channel for the first frame. The counter is incremented for each of the second buffers used to store the first frame. An egress module transmits the frame on the destination channel.

Abstract: A network switch includes a first network port, a second network port, and a port virtualization module associated with the first network port. The port virtualization module determines that a device coupled to the first network port includes a first virtual network interface and provides a second virtual network interface on the first network port. The second virtual network interface is associated with the first virtual network interface. The network switch provides an aggregation zone including the second network port, the first virtual network interface, and the second virtual network interface.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments that provide an architecture of memory buffers for a network component configured to process packets. A network component may receive a packet, the packet being associated with a control structure and packet data, an input port set and an output port set. The network component determines one of a plurality of control structure memory partitions for writing the control structure, the one of the plurality of control structure memory partitions being determined based at least upon the input port set and the output port set; and determines one of a plurality of packet data memory partitions for writing the packet data, the one of the plurality of packet data memory partitions being determined independently of the input port set.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention include an apparatus, method, and computer program for collecting and analyzing network traffic flow records. The method includes, in one example, receiving a plurality of flow records which include data about traffic in a network. The method may further include caching the plurality of flow records in temporary storage, analyzing the plurality of flow records to determine a number of bytes of traffic that each of the plurality of flow records represents, and selecting a subset of the plurality of flow records to forward to permanent storage based on the determined number of bytes of each of the flow records.

Abstract: A network round trip time measurement apparatus and method employ an allocated storage in the form of a double ended queue, to store data received while awaiting a corresponding receipt of data to allow the network round trip time to be determined. When the allocated size of the storage is exceeded, storage stops until such time as data is received to allow network round trip time to be determined on at least some of the already stored data, whereupon storage can resume. This allows use in high and low volume traffic situations to automatically scale back the amount of data processed, so as to not overtax available resources.

Abstract: Techniques for using target issue intervals are provided. Request messages may identify the size of a data packet. A target issue interval may be determined based on the request messages. The target issue interval may be used to insert a delay between sending subsequent request messages.

Abstract: A telecommunication and multimedia management apparatus and method that supports voice and other media communications and that enables users to: (i) participate in multiple conversation modes, including live phone calls, conference calls, instant voice messaging or tactical communications; (ii) review the messages of conversations in either a live mode or a time-shifted mode and to seamlessly transition back and forth between the two modes; (iii) participate in multiple conversations either concurrently or simultaneously; (iv) archive the messages of conversations for later review or processing; and (v) persistently store media either created or received on the communication devices of users. The latter feature enables users to generate or review media when either disconnected from the network or network conditions are poor and to optimize the delivery of media over the network based on network conditions and the intention of the users participating in conversations.

Abstract: A method includes receiving a first packet at an input of a switching device and determining whether to insert first data associated with the first packet into a normal buffer of the input. The determination of whether to insert first data associated with the first packet into the normal buffer includes determining whether the first output identifier matches a second output identifier corresponding to second data in the normal buffer that is associated with a second packet. The first data is inserted into the normal buffer when the first output identifier matches the second output identifier.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention include a method for avoiding memory bandwidth utilization during packet processing. The packet processing core receives a plurality of packets. The packet processing core identifies the packet's quality of service (QoS) descriptor. The packet processing core determines that at least one packet should be moved to an off-chip packet stored prior to the packet being transmitted to the egress port. The packet processing core bases that determination, at least in part, on the packet's QoS descriptor. The packet processing core moves the determined packets to the off-chip packet store. The packet processing core determines that at least one packet should not be moved to the off-chip packet store prior to the packet being transmitted to the egress port. This determination is also made, at least in part, based on the packet's QoS descriptor.

Abstract: A user, identified by a network access identifier (NAI) or other user identifier, uses a communication device, identified by a hostname or other device identifier. An Internet Protocol (IP) address is obtained for the communication device, e.g., when the user logs in for access to a packet-switched network. An association between the IP address and the hostname is registered in a domain name server. An association between the user identifier and the hostname is registered in an RWHOIS server. An application may query the RWHOIS server to determine the hostname of the communication device being used by the user and then query the domain name server to determine the IP address of the communication device.

Abstract: In a media access control (MAC) processor, a programmable controller is configured to execute machine readable instructions for implementing MAC functions corresponding to data received by a communication device. A tightly coupled memory is associated with the programmable controller. A system memory is coupled to the programmable controller via a system bus, and a hardware processor is coupled to the system bus and the tightly coupled memory. The hardware processor is configured to implement MAC functions on data received in a communication frame, store, in the tightly coupled memory, processed data corresponding to data in the communication frame that indicates a structure of downlink data in the communication frame, and store, in the system memory, processed data corresponding to other data in the communication frame.

Abstract: Methods, devices, and/or systems related to viral quality of service upgrade are disclosed. Viral quality of service upgrade allows upgrade of communications that are responsive to a priority communication, using an architecture in which the priority communication “infects” devices forwarding the priority communication, so that the forwarding devices may subsequently upgrade priority levels of communications responsive to the priority communication.

Abstract: A method for transmitting a message includes a communication adapter receiving, from a transmitting device, a request to send the message. The method further includes modifying a maximum transfer unit (MTU) to obtain a modified MTU, transmitting, from the communication adapter to a receiving system, a first sub-unit of the message using the modified MTU, iteratively increasing the MTU for transmitting intermediate sub-units of the message until an MTU limit is reached, and transmitting, to the receiving system, the intermediate sub-units of the message. The intermediate sub-units are transmitted after the first sub-unit and before a second sub-unit. The method further includes transmitting, from the communication adapter to the receiving system, the second sub-unit to the receiving system using a full path MTU.

Abstract: A communication system, network, interface, and port architecture are provided for transporting data across a network. The network can be arranged by connecting the ports in a daisy chain fashion to achieve a ring architecture or topology. The network forwards data according to a specific network protocol. A first port forwards frames having a preemptive acknowledge field before the payload. A second port receives these frames, stores them in a frame buffer and modifies the preemptive acknowledge field according to its available frame buffer capacity. Said first port controls its data flow according to the modified preemptive acknowledge field.

Abstract: The systems and methods described herein allow for the scaling of output-buffered switches by decoupling the data path from the control path. Some embodiment of the invention include a switch with a memory management unit (MMU), in which the MMU enqueues data packets to an egress queue at a rate that is less than the maximum ingress rate of the switch. Other embodiments include switches that employ pre-enqueue work queues, with an arbiter that selects a data packet for forwarding from one of the pre-enqueue work queues to an egress queue.

Abstract: A network device implements automatic configuration of Quality of Service (QoS) parameters in response to operator specification of a relatively few and easily understandable “high level” parameters such as, for example, latency requirements or an acceptable rate of packet drops. In one implementation, a network device may receive user preference information that relates to a Quality of Service (QoS) for network traffic passing through the network device and may measure traffic patterns through the network device. The device further generates a configuration template based on the measured traffic patterns and on the user preference information transmit the data in an order of transmission that is prioritized according to a bandwidth allocation policy defined by the configuration template.

Abstract: Techniques for delays based on packet sizes are provided. Request messages may identify the size of a data packet. Delays may be initiated based in part on a portion of the size of the data packet. The delays may also be based in part on target issue intervals. Request messages may be sent after the delays.

Abstract: A loop method for determining transmission orders of asynchronous packets includes the steps of: classifying the asynchronous packets into a number of groups according to their lengths; and judging whether a length of a packet belonging to a longest-length packet group is smaller than or equal to a remained bandwidth of an asynchronous transmission period. If yes, the packet is transmitted in the asynchronous transmission period and the step is repeated to transmit other packets of the longest-length packet group. If not, it is judged whether a length of a packet belonging to a second-longest-length packet group is smaller than or equal to the remained bandwidth of the asynchronous transmission period to transmit the packets of the second-longest-length packet group. These steps are repeated until a shortest-length packet group is greater than the remained bandwidth.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a method and a device for fast pushing a unicast stream in a Fast Channel Change (FCC), and relates to the field of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). A server obtains a multicast join delay of a terminal, determines a minimum value of a data amount between a starting position of a fast unicast stream and a latest packet position according to the multicast join delay of the terminal, a decoding rate, a unicast push rate, and a lowest buffer data amount required for decoding, judges whether a latest I frame completely arrives according to a packet buffer state; and fast pushes the unicast stream starting from the latest I frame if the latest I frame completely arrives, and an arrived data amount starting from the latest I frame is greater than or equal to the minimum value.

Abstract: Presented herein are system(s) for demultiplexing, merging, and duplicating packetized elementary stream/program stream/elementary stream data. In one embodiment, there is presented a system for processing data. The system comprises a first circuit and a memory. The first circuit receives transport packets carrying the data. The memory stores data and comprises at least one context. The first circuit maps the data associated with at least one channel to the at least one context.

Abstract: A forwarding system includes a first processor coupled to connecting devices using a plurality of uplinks, and a second processor coupled to the connecting devices using a plurality of downlinks. The first processor includes, in a memory, one or more queues each corresponding to the second processor, a priority, and/or to a packet cast type (e.g., unicast or multicast). The first processor is configured to select a particular queue, select a particular uplink based on a comparison of measurements corresponding to respective loads of the plurality of uplinks, and cause a fragment or the entirety of a packet in the particular queue to be forwarded to the second processing device using the selected uplink and corresponding connecting device. The second processor is configured to reassemble the packet, reorder the packet into a flow, and forward the packet from the forwarding system.

Abstract: A Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) transport for fabric backplane enterprise servers provides for local and remote communication of storage system information between storage sub-system elements of an ES system and other elements of an ES system via a storage interface. The transport includes encapsulation of information for communication via a reliable transport implemented in part across a cellifying switch fabric. The transport may optionally include communication via Ethernet frames over any of a local network or the Internet. Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) and Direct Data Placement (DDP) protocols are used to communicate the information (commands, responses, and data) between SCSI initiator and target end-points. A Fiber Channel Module (FCM) may be operated as a SCSI target providing a storage interface to any of a Processor Memory Module (PMM), a System Control Module (SCM), and an OffLoad Module (OLM) operated as a SCSI initiator.

Abstract: A data processing method and system and relevant devices are provided to improve the processing efficiency of cores. The method includes: storing received packets in a same stream sequentially; receiving a Get_packet command sent by each core; selecting, according to a preset scheduling rule, packets for being processed by each core among the stored packets; receiving a tag switching command sent by each core, where the tag switching command indicates that the core has finished a current processing stage; and performing tag switching for the packets in First In First Out (FIFO) order, and allocating the packets to a subsequent core according to the Get_packet command sent by the subsequent core after completion of the tag switching, so that the packet processing continues until all processing stages are finished. A data processing system and relevant devices are provided. With the present invention, the processing efficiency of cores may be improved.

Abstract: An integrated circuit is disclosed. The integrated circuit includes a receive port interface to receive request data at a first data rate from a first host and a transmit port interface. The transmit port interface to transmit response data words across plural serial lanes to a second host at a second data rate. The second data rate is less than a predefined line rate of symbol transfers across the plural serial lanes. The transmit port interface includes shaping logic to transmit a data word stream at the second data rate and selectively insert idle words into the data word stream such that the data words and the idle words are together transferred at the predefined line rate.

Abstract: In a method for processing network packets, a network packet is received at an ingress port. Before the network packet has been completely received at the ingress port, a first data structure representing the network packet is generated based on a received first portion of the network packet, and the first data structure is processed at a packet processor of the network device. Processing the first data structure includes making a forwarding decision for the network packet. A second data structure representing the network packet is generated and, after the network packet has been completely received at the ingress port, at least one or more non-forwarding operations are performed with respect to the network packet using at least the second data structure.

Abstract: In a method for processing network packets, a network packet is received at an ingress port. After at least a first portion of the network packet has been received, but before the network packet has been completely received, a first data structure representing the network packet is generated based on the first portion, the first data structure is processed, and the network packet begins to be selectively forwarded to a first one or more egress ports, or selectively not forwarded to any egress port, responsively to processing the first data structure. A second data structure representing the network packet is generated and, after the network packet has been completely received, the second data structure is processed, and the network packet is selectively forwarded to a second one or more egress ports, different from the first one or more egress ports, responsively to processing the second data structure.

Abstract: A data structure is provided for storing network contact information based on an array of physical memory locations. Virtual vectors are constructed for each source, wherein each element in each virtual vector is assigned to a corresponding physical memory location within the array. The physical memory locations are shared between the virtual vectors uniformly at random so that the noise introduced by sharing can be predicted and removed. A method for storing network contact information is also provided in which a hash function is performed using the address of a source host to find a virtual vector for holding information about the source host. A second hash function is performed using the address of a destination host to find a virtual memory location, within the virtual vector, for holding information about the destination host. Finally, information is stored at a physical memory location assigned to the virtual memory location.

Abstract: A method and system may allow for adjusting network latency experienced by a user. A first computing device may send a request to adjust the latency experienced by a terminal associated with a user. The request may be received at a second computing device which may identify a buffer size for to the terminal associated with the user. A new buffer size may be determined and adjusted for the identified buffer based on the received request.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for establishing a communications link between a source and a target comprises: a) receiving, at a server, data identifying the source and the target; b) for each of the source and the target, retrieving a respective communication profile identifying one or more communications systems by which the respective one of the source or target may be communicated with; c) comparing the profiles to identify one or more common communications systems; and d) opening a communications link between the source and the target using one or more of the common communication systems.

Abstract: Scheduling methods and apparatus are provided for an input-queued switch. The exemplary distributed scheduling process achieves 100% throughput for any admissible Bernoulli arrival traffic. The exemplary distributed scheduling process includes scheduling variable size packets. The exemplary distributed scheduling process may be easily implemented with a low-rate control or by sacrificing the throughput by a small amount. Simulation results also showed that this distributed scheduling process can provide very good delay performance for different traffic patterns. The exemplary distributed scheduling process may therefore be a good candidate large-scale high-speed switching systems.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, a packet distribution apparatus distributes packets each containing a digital content via a communication network. The packet distribution apparatus includes a generator, a packet transmitter, a detector and a swapper. The generator generates the packets for each session with a bit rate corresponding to a content to be distributed. The packet transmitter transmits the generated packets to the communication network. The detector detects a collision of transmission timings of the packets in the sessions. The swapper exchanges, upon detecting a collision of the transmission timings, a transmission order of packets associated with the collision of the transmission timings based on the bit rates.

Abstract: Various embodiments of a method and apparatus for controlling transaction flow in a communications fabric is disclosed. In one embodiment, an IC includes a communications fabric connecting multiple agents to one another. Each agent may include an interface coupling itself to at least one other agent. Each interface may include multiple queues for storing information corresponding to pending transactions. Also included in each interface is an arbitration unit and control logic. The control logic may determine which transactions are presented to the arbitration unit for arbitration. In one embodiment, the control logic may inhibit certain transactions from being presented to the arbitration unit so that other higher priority transactions may advance. In another embodiment, the control logic may reduce the priority level of some transactions for arbitration purposes to prevent the blocking of other higher priority transactions.

Abstract: A wireless communication system includes an intermediate node, a first node and a second node. A method for implementing MIMO based network coding, comprises the first node transmitting first data to the intermediate node, and the second node transmitting second data to the intermediate node. Both the first node and the second node may use spatial multiplexing or time division multiplexing or frequency division multiplexing on a common/different resource. The intermediate node receives the transmissions from the first node and second node, and performs network coding on the first data and second data using a predefined network coding scheme to produce network coded information. The intermediate node transmits the network coded information to the first node and second node using multi-user MIMO and each first or second node receives the MIMO transmissions from the intermediate node and applies network decoding procedures to recover the first data and second data.

Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention provide novel apparatus, methods and systems for providing relatively high-speed bandwidth to enable, inter alia, video transmission services over media previously unable to support such services. In accordance with certain embodiments, a device located at the telecommunication service provider can logically couple two or more physical media to provide a single, consolidated source of bandwidth, which can be used to transmit data, which can represent a video signal. In accordance with other embodiments, a device located at the subscriber's location can be used to receive the data from each of the two physical media and recreate the video signal from the data, such that the video signal can be transmitted to a display device, such as a television, monitor, etc.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for processing enhanced uplink data is disclosed. A request for uplink resources is transmitted, wherein the request for uplink resources is a request to transmit data over an enhanced dedicated channel (E-DCH). An uplink scheduling grant is received in response to the request for uplink resources. Data from medium access control for dedicated channel (MAC-d) flows is multiplexed into a medium access control for enhanced uplink (MAC-e) protocol data unit (PDU). A transport format combination (TFC) is selected for transmission of the MAC-e PDU. The MAC-e PDU is transmitted over the E-DCH using an identified hybrid automatic repeat request (H-ARQ) process. Feedback information is received in response to the transmitted MAC-e PDU. The MAC-e PDU is retransmitted using the identified H-ARQ process on a condition that the feedback information indicates a negative acknowledgment (NACK) of the MAC-e PDU transmission.

Abstract: A method and network system for obtaining, from a management entity, a service policy applicable to a device group managed by the management entity, the device group including a first device and a second device communicatively coupled to the network system over a wireless network, the service policy comprising a classification policy to assist in identifying traffic associated with one or more available service activities and a control policy to assist in controlling at least a portion of the traffic associated with the one or more available service activities; identifying data traffic over the wireless network associated with the first device; based on the classification policy, identifying first traffic associated with the one or more available service activities within the data traffic over the wireless network associated with the first device; and based on the control policy, controlling at least a portion of the first traffic.

Abstract: A network device of a communication network is configured to implement coordinated scheduling and processor rate control. In one aspect, packets are received in the network device and scheduled for processing from one or more queues of that device. An operating rate of a processor of the network device is controlled based at least in part on an optimal operating rate of the processor that is determined using a non-zero base power of the processor. For example, the operating rate of the processor may be controlled such that the processor either operates at or above the optimal operating rate, or is substantially turned off. The optimal operating rate of the processor may be selected so as to fall on a tangent line of a power-rate curve of the processor that also passes through an origin point of a coordinate system of the power-rate curve.

Abstract: A packet switching system includes a plurality of switch fabrics connected in cascade and a plurality of buffers respectively connected to the plurality of switch fabrics. In the event of packet competition, the plurality of switch fabrics buffer the competing packets to the corresponding buffers through buffer connection ports, and forward the competing packets in excess of the number of buffer connection ports to an adjacent switch fabric through switch connection ports.

Abstract: A multiprocessor computer system comprises a sending processor node and a receiving processor node. The sending processor node is operable to send packets comprising part of a message to a receiver, to maintain a message buffer entry in the sender comprising the sent packets, to track acknowledgment from the receiver that sent packets have been received; to maintain a timer indicating the time since message data has been sent, and to resend packets not acknowledged upon the timer reaching a timeout state. The receiving processor node is operable to send acknowledgement to the sender that received packets have been received, to track packets using a received message table to track which packets comprising part of the message have been received and whether all packets in the message have been received, and to process packets once all packets in a message are received to reassemble the received message.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and processor-readable storage media are disclosed for collecting information pertaining to the configuration of one or more wireless networks and using this information in turn to estimate the location of mobile wireless devices associated with those networks. Certain embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to providing efficient systems and methods for collecting the information, which are responsive to the coverage or quality of the wireless network configuration information already stored in a network database.

Abstract: An adapter is provided with intelligence that allows it to separate the header parts of a packet being received from the payload it carries, and in most cases move the payload directly into a destination buffer at the application layer or file system layer. Copies by the intermediate layers of the protocol stack are bypassed, reducing the number of times that the payload of a communication must be copied by the host system. At the network interface, a plurality of packets is received, and the payload of each is bypassed directly into the target destination buffer. The network interface device identifies the packets which are in the sequence of packets carrying payload to be stored in the target buffer by the flow specification carried with such packets. Also, the packets carrying data payload for the file include a sequence number or other identifier by which the network interface is able to determine the offset within the target buffer to which the packet is to be stored.