System and method for hardware based reassembly of a fragmented packet

Abstract

A system and method for hardware based reassembly of a fragmented packet is shown. The method includes receiving a bandwidth request to transfer a data packet from the data provider. Then, bandwidth is allocated to the data provider, where the allocated bandwidth is less than the requested bandwidth. Next, the present invention receives part of the data packet in the allocated bandwidth from the data provider, where the part of the data packet includes a fragment header, and the fragment header includes a sequence number for the part of the data packet. The part of the data packet is then stored in external memory. Finally, the data packet is reassembled by concatenating in the correct sequence the part of the data packet with other parts of the data packets to create the reassembled data packet.

1 . A method for reassembling fragmented packets from a data provider, comprising: 
 allocating bandwidth to the data provider to transfer a data packet from the provider, wherein the allocated bandwidth is less than a requested bandwidth amount;    receiving part of the data packet in the allocated bandwidth from the data provider, the part of the data packet including a fragment header having a sequence number for the part of the data packet;    tagging the part of the data packet with information indicating whether a reassembly session is in progress;    storing the part of the data packet in external memory; and    reassembling the data packet by concatenating in the correct sequence the part of the data packet with other parts of the data packet, thus forming a reassembled data packet.    
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data provider is a cable modem.  
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the means for reassembling uses a linked list to reassemble the reassembled data packet.  
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a means for error checking the reassembled data packet.  
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the reassembled data packet is associated with a service identifier.  
   
   
       6 . A computer readable medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for execution by one or more processors to perform a method for reassembling fragmented packets from a data provider, the instructions when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: 
 allocating bandwidth to the data provider to transfer a data packet from the provider, wherein the allocated bandwidth is less than a requested bandwidth amount;    receiving part of the data packet in the allocated bandwidth from the data provider, the part of the data packet including a fragment header having a sequence number for the part of the data packet;    tagging the part of the data packet with information indicating whether a reassembly session is in progress;    storing the part of the data packet in external memory; and    reassembling the data packet by concatenating in the correct sequence the part of the data packet with other parts of the data packet, thus forming a reassembled data packet.