Abstract: A generic high bandwidth adapter providing a unified architecture for data communications between buses, channels, processors, switch fabrics and/or communication networks. Data is carried by data stream packets of variable lengths, and each packet includes a header control information portion required by communication protocols used to mediate the information exchange, and normally a data portion for the data which is to be communicated. The generic high bandwidth adapter comprises a processor subsystem including a processor for processing the header control information portions of data packets. The processor has access to data packets stored in a packet memory which stores data packets arriving at four generic adapter input/output ports. The packet memory is segmented into a plurality of buffers, and each data packet is stored in one or more buffers as required by the length thereof.

Abstract: A slotted communications network by using a source node to indicate in every slot whether that slot is going to the same destination node as the immediately preceding slot. This is done by setting a flag, referred to as the continuation flag, in the header of each slot that is going to the same destination node as the immediately preceding slot; and preferably, this continuation flag is the first symbol in the header. Each node needs only to examine the continuation flag of the slot that immediately follows a slot that node has received. If the continuation flag is set in that following slot, then the destination node resets the busy indicator of that following slot to allow its reuse by other nodes, including the destination node itself if the access protocol allows that.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for storing a data packet in a networking device. The networking device has a plurality of buffers. Each buffer has a respective size. A predetermined, ordered sequence of buffer sets is established. A buffer is allocated from the plurality of buffers. The allocated buffer is selected from the first set in the ordered sequence. If the packet size does not exceed the allocated buffer size, the entire packet is stored in the allocated buffer. Otherwise, a portion of the data packet sufficient to fill the allocated buffer is stored into the allocated buffer. If the packet size is greater than the size of the allocated buffer, further portions of the data packet are stored into respective further buffers. The further buffers are allocated from the plurality of sets of buffers. The further buffers are allocated so that the sequence of their respective sizes match the predetermined, ordered sequence of sets of buffers.