Abstract: An Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network adapter having a receiver portion, the receiver portion capable of receiving a first plurality of ATM cells and assembling the first plurality of ATM cells into a first plurality of packets, and a transmitter portion, the transmitter receiving a second plurality of packets and segmenting the second plurality of packets into a second plurality of ATM cells, the receiving portion having a local memory for segmentation, while the transmitter portion having no local memory.

Abstract: A technique for controlling access to a bridge connected to at least two networks, such that network collisions are reduced, transmit live-lock conditions are eliminated, and buffer memory requirements are minimized. For at least one target network of the two networks, two dynamic lists are maintained, to keep track of data packets received from the target network and not yet forwarded, and to keep track of data packets stored for forwarding to the target network, but not yet forwarded. The target network uses a half-duplex medium and a CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection) protocol. The invention operates by dynamically adjusting an inter packet gap (IPG) betweens data packets forwarded to the target network, such that stations on the target network are, under selected conditions, given an extended opportunity to transmit.

Abstract: A technique for controlling access to a bridge connected to at least two networks, such that buffer memory requirements are minimized. For at least one target network of the two networks, two dynamic lists are maintained, to keep track of data packets received from the target network and not yet forwarded, and to keep track of data packets stored for forwarding to the target network, but not yet forwarded. The target network uses a half-duplex medium and a CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection) protocol. The invention operates by adjusting network protocol parameters used in the target network, to either guarantee or deny priority to the target network in the event of a collision, based on the continually observed status of the two lists. One of the adjustments modifies a backoff value that determines the amount of time that the bridge device will wait, in the event of a collision, before attempting to retransmit a data packet.

Abstract: A technique for reducing latencies in bridge operation, by facilitating cut-through transmission of a receive data packet while the packet is still being received, but without the need for starting or ending delimiters,or packet lengths, in the packet data. The technique can be applied to packets inbound from a network, packets outbound to a network, or packets being looped back to a client to which the bridge is connected. In the technique of the invention, each received packet is stored in a buffer memory and a count is maintained of the number of bits in the received packet. A transmit operation is started as soon as possible, preferably while the packet is still being received, and bytes are retrieved from the buffer memory for transmission. The transmit operation is terminated when a transmit byte count reaches the packet length as determined by the receive byte count.

Abstract: A device and related method for cryptographically processing data packets being forwarded in both directions between a communication network and a client interface, using only a single cryptographic engine, but without any degradation in latency or throughput performance, as compared with a device using two cryptographic engines Outbound data packets received from the client interface are immediately parsed to determine if cryptographic processing is required, and an appropriate portion of each packet may be cryptographically processed as the packet is received and stored in an outbound buffer memory, until forwarded onto the communication network. Inbound data packets received from the communication network are not immediately parsed but are stored in an inbound buffer memory until the client interface is available.