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:
Feb. 14, 1995
Filed:
Dec. 27, 1991
Satish L Rege, Groton, MA (US);
Kadangode K Ramakrishnan, Maynard, MA (US);
David A Gagne, Goffstown, NH (US);
Digital Equipment Corporation, Maynard, MA (US);
Abstract
In a network adapter for a host computer, the data occupancy level of a buffer memory used to store network packets is monitored, and the occupancy level is reported to the host. The buffer memory is organized as a plurality of fixed-size pages. A memory controller uses an allocation counter to track the number of pages available to store incoming data packets, and the value of the allocation counter is compared with a programmable threshold. A data word accompanies each packet delivered to the host to indicate whether the allocation count exceeds the threshold. When the buffer memory has insufficient free space to store an incoming packet, the packet is discarded. The network adapter keeps a count of the number of discarded packets. An adapter manager microprocessor, which is part of the network adapter, reports the count to the host computer on request. The adapter manager also reports the value of the allocation count and other important network adapter variables to the host computer.