Abstract: A receiving device in which transaction layer packets are speculatively forwarded, is disclosed. The receiving device includes a physical layer, a link layer, a transaction layer, and a core. Transaction layer packets are forwarded to the transaction layer before processing at the link layer is completed, and without the use of memory storage at the link layer. A link layer engine checks the sequence number only and not the CRC before forwarding the packet to the transaction layer. This allows the transaction layer to pre-process the packet, such as verifying header information. However, the transaction layer is unable to make the transaction globally available until the link layer has verified the CRC of the packet. The simultaneous processing of the packet by both the link layer and the transaction layer may reduce latency and lessens the amount of memory needed for processing.