Prior art

To identify the most relevant prior art for US Patent 7,760,733, I will analyze the patent citations listed within the patent itself, as this directly indicates what the examiners and inventors considered relevant during prosecution.

Prior Art Analysis for US Patent 7,760,733

The following are the most relevant prior art references cited in US Patent 7,760,733. For each reference, a brief description and potential anticipation of claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102 are provided. Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102 requires that all elements of a claimed invention are disclosed in a single prior art reference.

Patent Citations:

• US 6,226,680 B1

  • Full Citation: US 6,226,680 B1, "Intelligent network interface system method for protocol processing," issued May 1, 2001.
  • Publication/Filing Date: October 14, 1997 (Filing Date).
  • Brief Description: This patent describes an intelligent network interface system and method for offloading protocol processing from a host computer. It focuses on accelerating communication by handling protocols like TCP/IP on the network interface device itself, thereby reducing the host's processing load.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent potentially anticipates aspects of claims 1, 9, 12, and 18, particularly regarding the concept of offloading protocol processing to network interface circuitry. Claims 1, 9, 12, and 18 all refer to the network interface circuitry having the capability to offload protocol processing. The specific emphasis on "protocol processing of received data for connections... offloaded to the network interface circuitry" in these claims directly aligns with the core subject matter of US 6,226,680 B1.

• US 6,434,620 B1

  • Full Citation: US 6,434,620 B1, "TCP/IP offload network interface device," issued August 13, 2002.
  • Publication/Filing Date: August 27, 1998 (Filing Date).
  • Brief Description: This patent details a TCP/IP offload network interface device designed to handle TCP/IP protocol processing, including checksum calculations and segmentation, on the network interface card rather than the host CPU.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Similar to US 6,226,680 B1, this patent could anticipate elements of claims 1, 9, 12, and 18. Specifically, the mention of "protocol processing of received data" and the network interface circuitry handling such processing for offloaded connections is a key overlap. The capability to offload TCP/IP processing, as described in US 6,434,620 B1, is a fundamental aspect of the broader offloading function claimed in US 7,760,733.

• US 6,717,946 B1

  • Full Citation: US 6,717,946 B1, "Methods and apparatus for mapping ranges of values into unique values of particular use for range matching operations using an associative memory," issued April 6, 2004.
  • Publication/Filing Date: October 31, 2002 (Filing Date).
  • Brief Description: This patent describes methods and apparatus for efficient range matching operations using an associative memory (like a TCAM). This is particularly relevant for tasks such as packet classification and filtering where incoming data needs to be matched against a set of rules that may include ranges.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent potentially anticipates elements of claims 2, 10, 13, 14, 15, and 17. These claims specifically describe using a content-addressable memory (TCAM) for determining actions and the ability to handle "don't care" values or range matching. The core concept of using associative memory for efficient rule lookup, as described in US 6,717,946 B1, is highly relevant to the lookup circuitry described in these claims of US 7,760,733.

• US 6,798,743 B1

  • Full Citation: US 6,798,743 B1, "Packet prioritization processing technique for routing traffic in a packet-switched computer network," issued September 28, 2004.
  • Publication/Filing Date: March 22, 1999 (Filing Date).
  • Brief Description: This patent introduces a technique for prioritizing packets in a network based on certain criteria, such as protocol type, source/destination, or application. It addresses the need for efficient traffic management in packet-switched networks.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent might anticipate the prioritization aspects of claims 1, 9, 12, and 18. These claims emphasize determining a "highest priority one of a plurality of actions" based on an order. While US 6,798,743 B1 focuses on traffic routing, the underlying principle of assigning and acting upon priorities for network packets could be considered anticipatory to the prioritization scheme for offloaded processing versus filtering actions.

• US 7,031,267 B2

  • Full Citation: US 7,031,267 B2, "PLD-based packet filtering methods with PLD configuration data update of filtering rules," issued April 18, 2006.
  • Publication/Filing Date: December 21, 2000 (Filing Date).
  • Brief Description: This patent describes packet filtering methods using programmable logic devices (PLDs) where filtering rules can be dynamically updated. This addresses the need for flexible and adaptable packet filtering in network devices.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent could anticipate aspects of claims 1, 9, 12, and 18, specifically regarding the filtering of received data. The concept of filtering ingress packets using hardware with updatable rules is directly relevant. The "filtering received data" action mentioned in these claims aligns with the primary function of US 7,031,267 B2.

• US 2005/0083935 A1

  • Full Citation: US 2005/0083935 A1, "Method and apparatus for two-stage packet classification using most specific filter matching and transport level sharing," published April 21, 2005.
  • Publication/Filing Date: October 20, 2003 (Filing Date).
  • Brief Description: This publication describes a method and apparatus for efficient packet classification using a two-stage filtering process, focusing on applying the most specific filter matching.
  • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This publication potentially anticipates elements of claims 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 18, 23, 24, and 25, which relate to filtering rules, processing characteristics of received data, and applying masks. The method of determining a specific filtering rule based on packet characteristics, especially with a "most specific filter matching" approach, directly relates to the filtering rule determination process described in US 7,760,733.

This analysis is based on the provided patent text and the general understanding of 35 U.S.C. § 102. A definitive determination of anticipation would require a detailed claim-by-claim comparison by a legal expert.