Ingress processing optimization via traffic classification and grouping

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a plurality of packets and inserting the plurality of packets in a packet queue;

classifying the packets according to a classification criterion after the plurality of packets have been inserted in the packet queue;

sending a packet bundle and a corresponding packet bundle descriptor to a host wherein the packet bundle is generated using the packets that are uniformly classified with respect to the classification criterion; and

receiving the packet bundle and the corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

processing the packet bundle according to the corresponding packet bundle descriptor.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said sending comprises:

determining the packet bundle for transfer according to a pre-determined criterion;

generating the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

transferring the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor to the host.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein:

the classification criterion includes a session number; and

the pre-determined criterion includes a priority associated with a packet.

4. A method for an input and output controller, comprising:

receiving a plurality of packets in a packet queue;

classifying the packets in the packet queue according to a classification criterion, the classifying including looking ahead in the packet gueue to classify the packets in the packet queue; and

sending a packet bundle to a host wherein the packet bundle includes a number of packets that are uniformly classified with respect to the classification criterion.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein said sending includes:

determining the packet bundle for transfer according to a pre-determined criterion;

generating the packet bundle and a corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

transferring the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor to the host.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein:

the classification criterion includes a session number; and

the pre-determined criterion includes a priority associated with a packet.

7. A method for a classification based packet transferring mechanism, comprising:

receiving a plurality of packets and inserting the packets in a packet queue;

classifying the packets according to a classification criterion;

rearranging an order of the packets in the packet queue based on the classifying of the packets; and

sending a packet bundle to a host wherein the packet bundle includes a number of packets that are uniformly classified with respect to the classification criterion.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said sending includes:

determining the packet bundle for transfer according to a pre-determined criterion;

generating the packet bundle and a corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

transferring the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor to the host.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein:

the classification criterion includes a session number; and

the pre-determined criterion includes a priority associated with a packet.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the packet bundle descriptor includes:

a bundle descriptor providing information about the packet bundle; and

at least one packet descriptor each of which provides information about a packet in the packet bundle.

11. A method for a classification based packet transferring mechanism, comprising:

classifying packets according to a classification criterion; and

sending a packet bundle to a host wherein the packet bundle is generated using packets that are uniformly classified with respect to the classification criterion,

said sending including determining the packet bundle for transfer according to a pre-determined criterion, generating the packet bundle and a corresponding packet bundle descriptor, and transferring the packet bundle and the corresponding packet bundle descriptor to the host, the classification criterion including a session number, the pre-determined criterion including a priority associated with a packet, the packet bundle descriptor providing information about the packet bundle and at least one packet descriptor, each of which provides information about a packet in the packet bundle, and said packet bundle descriptor including a number of packets in the packet bundle, a session number identifying the session information of the packets in the packet bundle, and a priority value specifying the priority of the packet bundle.

12. A method for a host, comprising:

receiving a packet bundle and a corresponding packet bundle descriptor;

processing the packet bundle; and

updating a packet session according to the packet bundle descriptor using contents of the packet bundle.

13. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising:

identifying a session number from the packet bundle descriptor prior to said updating.

14. A system, comprising:

an input and output controller with a classification based packet transferring mechanism for receiving packets and transferring a packet bundle with a corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

a host for receiving the packet bundle and the corresponding packet bundle descriptor and for updating a session based on the packet bundle descriptor using contents of the packet bundle.

15. A system, comprising:

an input and output controller with a classification based packet transferring mechanism for receiving packets and transferring a packet bundle with a corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

a host for receiving the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor and for updating a session based on the packet bundle descriptor using contents of the packet bundle,

wherein the classification based packet transferring mechanism includes:

a packet classification mechanism for classifying received packets;

a packet grouping mechanism for generating the packet bundle using classified packets and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

a transfer scheduler for transferring, at a time determined based on a pre-determined criterion, the packet bundle and the corresponding packet bundle descriptor to the host.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the host comprises:

a notification handler for receiving the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor;

a packet bundle processing mechanism for processing the received packet bundle and the corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

a session updating mechanism for updating the session according to the packet bundle descriptor using the contents of the packet bundle.

17. An input and output controller, comprising:

a packet receiver for receiving a plurality of packets and inserting the plurality of packets into a packet queue; and

a classification based packet transferring mechanism for generating and transferring a packet bundle to a host and a corresponding packet bundle descriptor to a host, wherein the classification based packet transferring mechanism includes:

a packet classification mechanism for classifying the received plurality of packets according to a classification criterion after the plurality of packets have been inserted in the packet queue;

a packet grouping mechanism for generating the packet bundle based on the classified packets and the corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

a transfer scheduler for transferring, at a time determined based on a pre-determined criterion, the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor to the host.

18. A machine-accessible medium encoded with data, the data, when accessed, causing:

receiving a plurality of packets and inserting the plurality of packets into a packet queue;

classifying the packets according to a classification criterion after the plurality of packets have been inserted in the packet queue;

sending a packet bundle and a corresponding packet bundle descriptor to a host wherein the packet bundle includes a number of packets that are uniformly classified with respect to the classification criterion;

receiving the packet bundle and the corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

processing the packet bundle according to the corresponding packet bundle descriptor.

19. The medium according to claim 18 , wherein said sending includes:

determining the packet bundle for transfer according to a pre-determined criterion;

generating the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

transferring the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor to the host.

20. A machine-accessible medium encoded with data for input and output control, the data, when accessed, causes:

receiving a plurality of packets in a packet queue;

classifying the packets in the packet queue according to a classification criterion, the classifying including looking ahead in the packet queue to classify the packets in the packet queue; and

sending a packet bundle to a host wherein the packet bundle includes a number of packets that are uniformly classified with respect to the classification criterion.

21. The medium according to claim 20 , wherein said sending includes:

determining the packet bundle for transfer according to a pre-determined criterion;

generating the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

transferring the packet bundle and a corresponding packet bundle descriptor to the host.

22. A machine-accessible medium encoded with data for a classification based packet transferring mechanism, the data, when accessed, causes:

receiving a plurality of packets and inserting the packets in a packet queue;

classifying the packets according to a classification criterion;

rearranging an order of the packets in the packet gueue based on the classifying of the packets; and

sending a packet bundle to a host wherein the packet bundle includes a number of packets that are uniformly classified with respect to the classification criterion.

23. The medium according to claim 22 , wherein said sending includes:

determining the packet bundle for transfer according to a pre-determined criterion;

generating the packet bundle and corresponding packet bundle descriptor; and

transferring the packet bundle and its corresponding packet bundle descriptor to the host.

24. A machine-accessible medium encoded with data for a host, the data, when accessed, causes:

receiving a packet bundle and a corresponding packet bundle descriptor;

processing the packet bundle; and

updating a packet session according to the packet bundle descriptor using contents of the packet bundle.

25. The medium according to claim 24 , the data, when accessed, further causing:

identifying a session number from the packet bundle descriptor prior to said updating.