The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 07, 1994
Filed:
Sep. 18, 1992
Brian Petersen, Los Altos, CA (US);
Lai-Chin Lo, Campbell, CA (US);
3Com Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Combined indication signals of data block transfers are generated by a device which reduces the number of interrupts to a host processor. The reduction in the number of interrupts enhances host system performance during data block transfers. An embodiment of the device may be a network adapter comprising network interface logic for transferring a data frame between a network and a buffer memory and host interface logic for transferring a data frame between a buffer memory and a host system. The network adapter further includes threshold logic for generating an early receive indication signal when a portion of the data frame is received. Indication combination logic delays the generation of a transfer complete interrupt to slightly before the expected occurrence of the early receive indication. The host processor is able to service both the transfer complete indication and the early receive indication in a single interrupt service routine caused by the transfer complete indication.