IP Library Granted Patent US 12,730,621
Granted Patent B2
US 12,730,621 · App. 17/955,797 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Network interface device reducing startup time of applications

Inventor: Ziye Yang (Shanghai, CN)
Assignee: Intel Corporation
G06F8/63G06F9/44505
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,730,621
App. No.
17/955,797
Granted
Sep 8, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Examples described herein relate to a network interface device that includes circuitry and a memory. In some examples, the circuitry is to perform image construction operations, wherein the image construction operations comprise access to a base image of an application from the memory in the network interface device. In some examples, the circuitry is to provide a host server access to a constructed image bundle of the application.

Claims (29)

1 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, that if executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

based on detected capability to perform image construction in a network interface device, wherein the network interface device comprises a host interface, direct memory access (DMA) circuitry, a network interface, and circuitry, enable the circuitry of the network interface device to:

perform image construction operations by access to a base image of an application and merge the base image and a dynamic image portion to create a constructed image bundle and

provide a host system with access to the constructed image bundle.

2 . The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the perform image construction operations includes file system preparation and dynamic image portion retrieval.

3 . The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic image portion comprises one or more of: an execution binary and one or more libraries.

4 . The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein to provide the host system with access to the constructed image bundle, the network interface device is to present constructed image bundle to the host system as a physical function (PF) or virtual function (VF) device.

5 . The computer-readable medium of claim 4 , wherein the constructed image bundle is accessible as a block device to the host system via a PF or VF.

6 . The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the network interface device comprises one or more of: a network interface controller (NIC), a remote direct memory access (RDMA)-enabled NIC, SmartNIC, router, switch, forwarding element, infrastructure processing unit (IPU), data processing unit (DPU), X processing unit (XPU), or network-attached appliance.

7 . An apparatus comprising:

an interface and

a network interface device coupled to the interface and coupled to a host server, wherein;

the network interface device comprises a host interface, direct memory access (DMA) circuitry, network interface, and circuitry,

the circuitry is to perform image construction operations to create a constructed image bundle, wherein the image construction operations comprise access a base image of an application and merge the base image with a dynamic image portion and

provide the host server with access to the constructed image bundle.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the perform image construction operations include file system preparation and dynamic image retrieval.

9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the dynamic image portion comprises one or more of: an execution binary and one or more libraries.

10 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the circuitry is to provide the host server with access to the constructed image bundle by presentation of a file system to the host server as a physical function (PF) or virtual function (VF) device.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the file system is accessible as a block device to the host server via a PF or VF.

12 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the network interface device comprises one or more of: a network interface controller (NIC), a remote direct memory access (RDMA)-enabled NIC, SmartNIC, router, switch, forwarding element, infrastructure processing unit (IPU), data processing unit (DPU), or network-attached appliance.

13 . The apparatus of claim 7 , comprising the host server, wherein the host server is to access a block device comprising a file system by access to a virtual function (VF) or physical function (PF), mount the block device to a specific file system, and start an execution environment of the application.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , comprising a data center, wherein the data center comprises the host server and a second server, wherein the second server is to provide to the network interface device with one or more of: base image and the dynamic image portion.

15 . A method comprising:

in a network interface device comprising a host interface, direct memory access (DMA) circuitry, and network interface, performing image construction operations to create a constructed image bundle, wherein the performing the image construction comprises accessing a base image of an application and merging the base image with a dynamic image portion and

in the network interface device, providing a host server with access to the constructed image bundle.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the performing image construction operations includes preparing a file system.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the dynamic image portion comprises one or more of: an execution binary and one or more libraries.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the

providing the host server with access to the constructed image bundle comprises presenting a file system to the host server as a physical function (PF) or virtual function (VF) device.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 11, 2026
From: INTEL CORPORATION
To: INTEL PRODUCTS IP LLC
Reel/Frame 075990/0991 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 10, 2022
From: YANG, ZIYE
To: INTEL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 061362/0277 →
Priority Claims (1)
WO PCT/CN2022/115525 · Aug 29, 2022 · international
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230023766A1 · Jan 26, 2023
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