Abstract: Techniques for improving the handling of peripherals in a computer system, including through the use of a DMA control circuit that helps manage the flow of data between memory and the peripherals via an intermediate storage buffer. The DMA control circuit is configured to control timing of DMA transfers between sample buffers in the memory and the intermediate storage buffer. The DMA control circuit may output a priority value of the DMA control circuit for accesses to memory, where the priority value based on stored quality of service (QoS) information and current channel data buffer levels for different DMA channels. The DMA control circuit may separately arbitrate between multiple active transmit and receive channels. Still further, the DMA control circuit may store, for a given data transfer over a particular DMA channel, timestamp information indicative of completion of the DMA and peripheral-side operations.

Abstract: A system and method are provided for protecting a user computer. An incoming e-mail message is initially received at a remote e-mail server over a network. Further, the incoming e-mail message is blocked if a sender address associated therewith is included in a list of predetermined sender addresses corresponding to a user computer. Moreover, the incoming e-mail message is scanned for a virus to determine that the incoming e-mail message is clean if the scanning fails to detect a virus in the incoming e-mail message and to determine that the incoming e-mail message is infected in the scanning detects a virus in the incoming e-mail message. Still yet, the incoming e-mail message is transmitted from the remote e-mail sever to the user computer over the network, if it is not blocked. An attempt is made to clean the infected incoming e-mail message if the scanning detects a virus in the incoming e-mail message to generate a cleaned e-mail message if the attempt to clean is successful.

Abstract: A system and method for a remote or network-based application service offering virus scanning, sniffing, or detecting of e-mail viruses prior to the e-mail messages arriving at the destination system or server are disclosed. The method protects a computer system that is configured to receive an e-mail message addressed to a destination e-mail address from viruses in an incoming e-mail message. The method generally includes receiving the incoming e-mail message at a remote e-mail receiving server, scanning the e-mail message for virus, forwarding the e-mail message if it is clean to a remote e-mail sending server, attempting to clean the e-mail message if it is infected to generate a cleaned e-mail message, forwarding the cleaned e-mail message, if any, to the remote e-mail sending server, and forwarding the clean or cleaned e-mail message, if any, to the destination e-mail address from the remote e-mail sending server.