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Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for caching data for protocol processing. A protocol processing cache stores data needed for the generation of new headers, from both receive and transmit flows. Some data may be stored in the cache only after being processed (e.g., updated, calculated) by a protocol processor. Other data may bypass the protocol processor and be stored in the cache without being handled by the protocol processor. An entry in the cache includes data needed for header generation, a tag identifying an index into a control block memory of the TCP connection to which the data corresponds. An entry may also include one or more control indicators to indicate whether a transmit flow has been acknowledged, whether a receive flow has been observed, and whether the transmit flow has been updated with control data from the receive flow. The apparatus is protocol processor independent.

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First Claim