US 7826350

A concise summary of US Patent 7,826,350 is as follows:

Title: Intelligent network adaptor with adaptive direct data placement scheme

Assignee: Chelsio Communications Inc.

Inventors: Dimitrios Michailidis, Wael Noureddine, Felix A. Marti, Asgeir Thor Eiriksson

Filing Date: May 11, 2007

Issue Date: November 2, 2010

Abstract:
The patent describes a system where a host computer is connected to a network through an intelligent network adaptor. This adaptor handles the protocol processing for an application on the host that is receiving data from a peer over the network. The system can selectively place incoming application data directly into the application's memory. This decision is made by the operating system, which provides the adaptor with information about the application's memory. Initially, data may be copied from a general host memory area to the application's memory, but subsequently, data can be placed directly into the application's memory by the intelligent network adaptor.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Claim 1: This claim outlines a method for an intelligent network adapter and a host computer to determine the most efficient way to handle incoming data for an application. The system decides whether to place data directly into the application's memory based on the specific request from the application, particularly considering the size of the memory buffer the application has provided.

• Claim 2: This claim details a process where a part of the incoming data for an application is first stored in a temporary memory location on the host (not directly usable by the application) and is then copied over to the application's designated memory space.

• Claim 5: Similar to Claim 2, this claim describes copying a portion of the application's data from a temporary host memory area to the application's own memory. The distinction lies in the technical description of the temporary memory not being associated with the specific data connection.

• Claim 10: This claim covers a computer program product, such as a disk or other non-transitory medium, that contains software instructions. When a host computer runs these instructions, it is enabled to decide whether to have its intelligent network adapter place data directly into an application's memory. The instructions also cover the process of copying data from a temporary memory location to the application's memory.

• Claim 13: This claim also pertains to a computer program product with instructions similar to those in Claim 10. The subtle difference is in the characterization of the temporary memory from which the data is copied.

• Claim 16: This claim specifies a method for handling data within an ongoing, state-aware network connection. The method involves deciding where the intelligent network adaptor should place incoming data based on the application's request. It also includes the step of copying a portion of the data from a temporary host memory area to the application's memory.

A search of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) dockets for 2026 did not reveal any cases specifically involving US patent 7,826,350 as of the date of this analysis.

As of April 26, 2026, a search of publicly available litigation databases, including Unified Patents and information regarding CAFC and PACER dockets, did not reveal any known litigation specifically involving US patent 7,826,350. While Unified Patents tracks patent litigation and Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs), and provides a platform to search for cases by patent number, no results for US7826350 were found in their records. Similarly, general searches for patent litigation and specific patent numbers on CAFC and PACER resources did not yield any cases directly citing US patent 7,826,350.

Therefore, based on the performed searches, there is no known litigation involving US patent 7,826,350 to report at this time.

Proceedings overview

The USPTO ODP API returns no AIA trial proceedings for this patent as of the most recent ingest. No PTAB activity on file.

Strategic summary

As of today's date, May 27, 2026, there is no PTAB activity on file for US Patent 7,826,350. This means all claims of the patent (claims 1-16) remain untested by AIA trial proceedings.

The absence of PTAB challenges for this patent could imply several things. It might suggest that the patent has not been extensively asserted in litigation, thus not drawing the attention of potential petitioners. Alternatively, it could be that previous assessments by potential challengers concluded that the claims are robust and less susceptible to invalidation under §§ 102 or 103, or that the cost-benefit of an IPR does not favor a petition. Without any PTAB proceedings, there is no estoppel landscape to consider under § 315(e)(2) for this patent.

Recommended next steps

If facing an assertion of US Patent 7,826,350, a defendant should conduct a thorough prior art search and an in-depth analysis of the patent claims to identify potential grounds for an AIA trial (e.g., IPR, PGR, or CBM). The absence of prior PTAB activity means that all claims are currently presumed valid and have not been subjected to the scrutiny of an AIA trial.

Inventors

• Dimitrios Michailidis: Employed by Chelsio Communications Inc. at the time of filing.
• Wael Noureddine: Employed by Chelsio Communications Inc. at the time of filing.
• Felix A. Marti: Employed by Chelsio Communications Inc. at the time of filing.
• Asgeir Thor Eiriksson: Employed by Chelsio Communications Inc. at the time of filing.

All named inventors were employed by the original assignee, Chelsio Communications Inc., at the time the application was filed.

Original assignee

Chelsio Communications Inc. is the entity named on the issued patent. Chelsio Communications Inc. is primarily in the business of designing and marketing high-performance Ethernet network adapters (NICs), including those with TCP Offload Engine (TOE) capabilities, which embody the claims of US 7,826,350 concerning intelligent network adaptors and direct data placement schemes. As of the current date, Chelsio Communications Inc. is an active, operating company.

Assignment timeline

• 2007-05-11 (executed) / recorded 2007-05-11 — Reel 019685/0733

  • Conveyance: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS)
  • Assignor: MARTI, FELIX A.; EIRIKSSON, ASGEIR THOR; MICHAILIDIS, DIMITRIOS; NOUREDDINE, WAEL
  • Assignee: CHELSIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Correspondent: BEYER WEAVER & THOMAS, LLP, P.O. BOX 70250, OAKLAND, CA 94612-0250
  • Context: Original assignment of inventor rights to the founding corporate entity.

• 2013-04-29 (executed) / recorded 2013-05-09 — Reel 030068/0805

  • Conveyance: SECURITY AGREEMENT
  • Assignor: CHELSIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Assignee: EAST WEST BANK
  • Correspondent: EAST WEST BANK, LEGAL SERVICES, 135 N. VISTORIA AVE., MONTEREY PARK, CA 91754
  • Context: Security interest granted to East West Bank.

• 2014-10-14 (executed) / recorded 2014-10-21 — Reel 033333/0859

  • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS)
  • Assignor: EAST WEST BANK
  • Assignee: CHELSIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL T. NOVIRIAN, ESQ., K&L GATES LLP, 4 EMBARCADERO CTR SUITE 1200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This correspondent firm, K&L Gates LLP, recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Release of security interest from East West Bank to Chelsio Communications, Inc.

• 2014-10-14 (executed) / recorded 2014-10-21 — Reel 033333/0861

  • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS)
  • Assignor: CHELSIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Assignee: SILICON VALLEY BANK
  • Correspondent: MICHAEL T. NOVIRIAN, ESQ., K&L GATES LLP, 4 EMBARCADERO CTR SUITE 1200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This correspondent firm, K&L Gates LLP, recurs in this chain.
  • Context: New security interest granted to Silicon Valley Bank.

• 2016-07-01 (executed) / recorded 2016-07-15 — Reel 037989/0984

  • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS)
  • Assignor: EAST WEST BANK
  • Assignee: CHELSIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Correspondent: CHUNG, DENNIS K., ESQ., K&L GATES LLP, 4 EMBARCADERO CENTER, SUITE 1200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This correspondent firm, K&L Gates LLP, recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Another release of security interest from East West Bank to Chelsio Communications, Inc.

• 2016-07-28 (executed) / recorded 2016-07-29 — Reel 038096/0200

  • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS)
  • Assignor: CHELSIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Assignee: NOVIRIAN CAPITAL
  • Correspondent: K&L GATES LLP, 4 EMBARCADERO CENTER, SUITE 1200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This correspondent firm, K&L Gates LLP, recurs in this chain.
  • Context: New security interest granted to Novirian Capital.

• 2017-04-20 (executed) / recorded 2017-04-25 — Reel 040715/0746

  • Conveyance: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS)
  • Assignor: NOVIRIAN CAPITAL
  • Assignee: CHELSIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Correspondent: K&L GATES LLP, 4 EMBARCADERO CENTER, SUITE 1200, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94111. This correspondent firm, K&L Gates LLP, recurs in this chain.
  • Context: Release of security interest from Novirian Capital to Chelsio Communications, Inc.

• 2019-08-14 (executed) / recorded 2019-08-14 — Reel 046340/0396

  • Conveyance: SECURITY INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS)
  • Assignor: CHELSIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Assignee: WESTERN ALLIANCE BANK, AN ARIZONA CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: WESTERN ALLIANCE BANK, 1 E. WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 1400, PHOENIX, AZ 85004
  • Context: New security interest granted to Western Alliance Bank.

• 2019-08-14 (executed) / recorded 2019-08-15 — Reel 046341/0080

  • Conveyance: CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT (TO CORRECT THE THE FIRST PAGE OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT HAS AN INCORRECT DATE THAT NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 050050 FRAME 0396. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE SECURITY INTEREST.)
  • Assignor: CHELSIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Assignee: WESTERN ALLIANCE BANK, AN ARIZONA CORPORATION
  • Correspondent: WESTERN ALLIANCE BANK, 1 E. WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 1400, PHOENIX, AZ 85004
  • Context: Corrective assignment related to the security interest with Western Alliance Bank.

• 2025-12-11 (executed) / recorded 2025-12-18 — Reel 055171/0871

  • Conveyance: RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST
  • Assignor: WESTERN ALLIANCE BANK, AN ARIZONA CORPORATION
  • Assignee: CHELSIO COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
  • Correspondent: WESTERN ALLIANCE BANK, 1 E. WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 1400, PHOENIX, AZ 85004
  • Context: Release of security interest from Western Alliance Bank to Chelsio Communications, Inc.

Timeline diagram

timeline
    title Ownership of US 7826350
    2007 : Filed by Chelsio Communications Inc
    2010 : Issued
    2013 : Security agmt East West Bank
    2014 : Release by East West Bank
         : Security agmt Silicon Valley Bank
    2016 : Release by East West Bank
         : Security agmt Novirian Capital
    2017 : Release by Novirian Capital
    2019 : Security agmt Western Alliance Bank
         : Corrective security agmt
    2025 : Release by Western Alliance Bank

NPE / troll-pattern signals

1. Shell-entity transfer — Not present. The patent has consistently been owned by Chelsio Communications, Inc., an operating company. The recorded transfers are all security agreements and their subsequent releases with financial institutions, not transfers of title to shell entities.
2. Known asserter in the chain — Not present. The assignees involved in security agreements (East West Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, Novirian Capital, Western Alliance Bank) are all financial institutions, not known patent assertion entities.
3. Repeat correspondent across the chain — Present. K&L Gates LLP, through attorneys Michael T. Novirian and Dennis K. Chung, is listed as the correspondent for several security agreements and releases (Reel 033333/0859, Reel 033333/0861, Reel 037989/0984, Reel 038096/0200, Reel 040715/0746). This indicates consistent legal representation for Chelsio Communications, Inc.'s financing activities.
4. Cascading transfers — Not present. While there are multiple security agreements, they do not represent transfers of ownership between chained LLCs in quick succession.
5. Pre-litigation transfer — Not present. No litigation involving US 7,826,350 has been found as of May 27, 2026.
6. Bankruptcy fire-sale — Not present. Chelsio Communications, Inc. remains an active operating company.
7. Privateering — Not present. There is no evidence in the assignment records or public information suggesting Chelsio Communications, Inc. has transferred the patent to an NPE to assert on its behalf.
8. Defensive aggregator (anti-NPE) — Not present. The ownership chain does not terminate at a defensive aggregator.

Verdict

Operating-company assertion.

The patent US 7,826,350 is currently owned by its original assignee, Chelsio Communications Inc., which is an active operating company that manufactures products directly embodying the claimed invention. The recorded assignments solely reflect security interests granted to financial institutions and their subsequent releases (e.g., Reel 030068/0805 executed 2013-04-29, Reel 033333/0861 executed 2014-10-14, Reel 046340/0396 executed 2019-08-14). While the definition of "Operating-company assertion" includes "and is suing actual competitors," no litigation involving this patent has been identified in publicly available records, presenting a minor contradiction with the strict definition; however, the ownership pattern strongly indicates an operating company holds the patent for its core business rather than for assertion by an NPE.

USPTO Patent Assignment Search for US7826350

To identify the most relevant prior art for US Patent 7,826,350, I will refer to the "Citations" section of the patent itself, as this typically lists the prior art considered by the examiner during prosecution. The information provided in the prompt already includes a "Citations" list. I will go through each of these citations and summarize their relevance.

Here are the prior art references cited in US Patent 7,826,350, along with their details and potential anticipatory claims:

1. US4445116A

• Full Citation: US4445116A - Method for allocating bandwidth between stations in a local area network
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 1984-04-24 / Filing: 1982-03-05
• Brief Description: This patent describes a method for allocating bandwidth among stations in a local area network. While it relates to network communication, its focus is on bandwidth allocation rather than direct data placement or adaptive copy avoidance.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to directly anticipate the core claims of US7826350, which center on intelligent network adaptors, adaptive direct data placement, and host memory management. It might be relevant for background in network communication, but not specific DDP mechanisms.

2. US4533996A

• Full Citation: US4533996A - Peripheral systems accommodation of guest operating systems
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 1985-08-06 / Filing: 1982-02-23
• Brief Description: This patent deals with peripheral systems accommodating guest operating systems, likely in a virtualized or multi-OS environment. It doesn't appear to directly address efficient data transfer between a network adaptor and application memory.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate claims related to direct data placement or adaptive copy avoidance in network adaptors.

3. US5497476A

• Full Citation: US5497476A - Scatter-gather in data processing system
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 1996-03-05 / Filing: 1992-09-21
• Brief Description: This patent describes scatter-gather techniques in data processing, which involve collecting data from multiple memory locations (scatter) or distributing data to multiple memory locations (gather) in a single operation. This is foundational to efficient DMA operations, which are relevant to direct data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could potentially anticipate aspects of "providing received payload data corresponding to the request directly into host memory for consumption by the application" (Claim 1) or the underlying mechanism for direct data placement, particularly as it relates to managing fragmented memory buffers. However, US7826350's claims further specify adaptive direct data placement and a decision-making process for when to use it, which this patent does not explicitly cover.

4. US5778189A

• Full Citation: US5778189A - System and method for converting communication protocols
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 1998-07-07 / Filing: 1996-05-29
• Brief Description: This patent focuses on converting communication protocols. While relevant to network communication, it does not specifically address direct data placement or adaptive schemes for host memory.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate the core claims of US7826350.

5. US6087581A

• Full Citation: US6087581A - Regenerable thermal insulation and cooling elements insulated thereby
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2000-07-11 / Filing: 1998-06-08
• Brief Description: This patent relates to thermal insulation and cooling elements, which is completely unrelated to network adaptors or data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): No anticipation. This appears to be an irrelevant citation, possibly a clerical error or a very broad search result.

6. US6226680B1

• Full Citation: US6226680B1 - Intelligent network interface system method for protocol processing
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2001-05-01 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent describes an intelligent network interface system and method for protocol processing, specifically mentioning offloading protocol processing to the network interface. This is highly relevant to the "intelligent network adaptor performs protocol processing of the connection" aspect of US7826350.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could potentially anticipate the general concept of an "intelligent network adaptor" performing "protocol processing of the connection" as recited in the preambles of all independent claims (e.g., Claim 1). However, it may not detail the adaptive direct data placement scheme specifically.

7. US6240094B1

• Full Citation: US6240094B1 - Statistical time division multiplexer for a wireless asymmetric local loop communication system
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2001-05-29 / Filing: 1997-12-22
• Brief Description: This patent relates to multiplexing in wireless communication systems, which is unrelated to the specific data placement and copy avoidance schemes of US7826350.
• Potential Anticipation (35 C.F.R. § 1.56): No anticipation.

8. US20010010046A1

• Full Citation: US20010010046A1 - Client content management and distribution system
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2001-07-26 / Filing: 1997-09-11
• Brief Description: This patent describes a client content management and distribution system. Its focus appears to be on content delivery rather than the underlying network adaptor mechanisms for data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

9. US20010021949A1

• Full Citation: US20010021949A1 - Network interface device employing a DMA command queue
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2001-09-13 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent describes a network interface device utilizing a DMA command queue. Direct Memory Access (DMA) is a fundamental technology for direct data placement. The use of a command queue suggests intelligence in managing data transfers.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant. This could potentially anticipate aspects of "providing received payload data corresponding to the request directly into host memory for consumption by the application" (Claim 1) by describing the underlying DMA mechanism. The specific "adaptive" decision-making of US7826350 might differentiate it, but the direct placement itself could be challenged.

10. US20020039366A1

• Full Citation: US20020039366A1 - Packet switch and multicasting control system used for the same
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-04-04 / Filing: 2000-10-04
• Brief Description: This patent concerns packet switching and multicasting control systems. Its focus is on network infrastructure rather than the end-host network adaptor's data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate the core claims of US7826350.

11. US6389479B1

• Full Citation: US6389479B1 - Intelligent network interface device and system for accelerated communication
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-05-14 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent describes an intelligent network interface device for accelerated communication. Similar to US6226680B1, it highlights the intelligence in the network adaptor to speed up communication.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could potentially anticipate the "intelligent network adaptor" performing "protocol processing of the connection" (Claim 1). Specific details of the adaptive direct data placement or the conditional copying might still be distinguishing features for US7826350.

12. US6397316B2

• Full Citation: US6397316B2 - System for reducing bus overhead for communication with a network interface
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-05-28 / Filing: 1997-07-24
• Brief Description: This patent describes a system for reducing bus overhead in communication with a network interface. This relates to the efficiency of data transfer, a goal of US7826350.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be relevant to the general objective of reducing overhead in data transfer, but not necessarily the adaptive direct data placement or conditional copying mechanisms that define US7826350.

13. US6401177B1

• Full Citation: US6401177B1 - Memory system for restructuring a main memory unit in a general-purpose computer
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-06-04 / Filing: 1998-04-28
• Brief Description: This patent describes a memory system for restructuring main memory. While memory management is broadly related, it does not specifically address network adaptor-initiated direct data placement or adaptive schemes.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

14. US6427173B1

• Full Citation: US6427173B1 - Intelligent network interfaced device and system for accelerated communication
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-07-30 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent is another one from Alacritech, Inc. (assignee for several highly relevant citations) concerning intelligent network interface devices for accelerated communication. It is a continuation or related to previously mentioned Alacritech patents.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly likely to be relevant for the "intelligent network adaptor" and "protocol processing" aspects (e.g., Claim 1 preamble). The specific adaptive nature of US7826350's DDP would be key to distinguishing it.

15. US6427171B1

• Full Citation: US6427171B1 - Protocol processing stack for use with intelligent network interface device
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-07-30 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent specifically describes a protocol processing stack designed for use with an intelligent network interface device. This directly supports the idea of offloading protocol processing to the adaptor.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the "intelligent network adaptor performs protocol processing of the connection" (Claim 1 preamble). Similar to other Alacritech patents, it may not detail the adaptive direct data placement scheme.

16. US6434620B1

• Full Citation: US6434620B1 - TCP/IP offload network interface device
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-08-13 / Filing: 1998-08-27
• Brief Description: This patent describes a TCP/IP offload network interface device (TOE). This directly addresses the concept of an "intelligent network adaptor" performing "protocol processing of the connection" for TCP/IP, as explicitly mentioned in US7826350.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Extremely relevant. This patent could potentially anticipate the "intelligent network adaptor performs protocol processing of the connection" (Claim 1 preamble). The specific adaptive direct data placement based on input request characteristics and buffer size would be the primary distinguishing feature for US7826350's claims.

17. US6470415B1

• Full Citation: US6470415B1 - Queue system involving SRAM head, SRAM tail and DRAM body
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-10-22 / Filing: 1999-10-13
• Brief Description: This patent describes a queue system using different types of memory (SRAM and DRAM). This relates to efficient data buffering, which is an aspect of managing network data.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): While related to efficient data handling, it is unlikely to anticipate the specific adaptive direct data placement or copy avoidance decision-making of US7826350.

18. US20020191622A1

• Full Citation: US20020191622A1 - System for and method of differentiated queuing in a routing system
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2002-12-19 / Filing: 2001-06-18
• Brief Description: This patent application describes differentiated queuing in a routing system, focusing on managing network traffic quality of service.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms for end-host application data.

19. US6510164B1

• Full Citation: US6510164B1 - User-level dedicated interface for IP applications in a data packet switching and load balancing system
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2003-01-21 / Filing: 1998-11-16
• Brief Description: This patent describes a user-level interface for IP applications. This could be relevant to how applications interact with network data, potentially enabling more direct access.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be relevant to the idea of applications accessing network data more directly. However, it may not detail the intelligent network adaptor's decision-making for direct placement or adaptive copy avoidance.

20. US20030018516A1

• Full Citation: US20030018516A1 - Method for dynamically evaluating projected days of supply of inventory levels in a supply chain
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2003-01-23 / Filing: 2001-07-20
• Brief Description: This patent application is about inventory management in a supply chain, which is completely unrelated to network adaptors or data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): No anticipation. This appears to be an irrelevant citation.

21. US20030035436A1

• Full Citation: US20030035436A1 - Method of allocating bandwidth on request to the stations of a local area network
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2003-02-20 / Filing: 2001-08-09
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a method for allocating bandwidth in a local area network. Similar to US4445116A, its focus is on network resource allocation.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate the core claims of US7826350.

22. US6591302B2

• Full Citation: US6591302B2 - Fast-path apparatus for receiving data corresponding to a TCP connection
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2003-07-08 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent describes a "fast-path apparatus" for receiving TCP data, again from Alacritech, Inc. This implies efficient and potentially direct handling of TCP traffic.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant. This could anticipate aspects of directly placing data for a TCP connection (e.g., parts of Claim 1, 2, 5, 10, 13, 16). The "adaptive" nature and the decision-making based on input request characteristics and buffer size of US7826350 would be critical for distinguishing its claims.

23. US6594268B1

• Full Citation: US6594268B1 - Adaptive routing system and method for QOS packet networks
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2003-07-15 / Filing: 1999-03-11
• Brief Description: This patent describes an adaptive routing system for Quality of Service (QoS) in packet networks. Its focus is on routing decisions, not end-host data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

24. US6625671B1

• Full Citation: US6625671B1 - Compression of buffered data
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2003-09-23 / Filing: 1999-05-03
• Brief Description: This patent describes the compression of buffered data. While data buffering is a component of network communication, the patent focuses on compression, not the placement of uncompressed application data.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

25. US20030200284A1

• Full Citation: US20030200284A1 - Freeing transmit memory on a network interface device prior to receiving an acknowledgement that transmit data has been received by a remote device
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2003-10-23 / Filing: 2002-04-22
• Brief Description: This patent application describes managing transmit memory on a network interface device. While it relates to network interface memory, its focus is on transmit operations, not receive data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms for received data.

26. US20030204631A1

• Full Citation: US20030204631A1 - Method to synchronize and upload an offloaded network stack connection with a network stack
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2003-10-30 / Filing: 2002-04-30
• Brief Description: This patent application describes synchronizing and uploading an offloaded network stack connection. This is highly relevant to intelligent network adaptors that offload protocol processing.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to the concept of offloading network stack connections (Claim 1 preamble). It could potentially anticipate aspects of an intelligent network adaptor performing protocol processing.

27. US6658480B2

• Full Citation: US6658480B2 - Intelligent network interface system and method for accelerated protocol processing
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2003-12-02 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: Another patent from Alacritech, Inc., describing an intelligent network interface system for accelerated protocol processing. This is a recurring theme in the Alacritech prior art.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the "intelligent network adaptor" and "protocol processing" aspects (Claim 1 preamble).

28. US20040003094A1

• Full Citation: US20040003094A1 - Method and apparatus for mirroring traffic over a network
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-01-01 / Filing: 2002-06-27
• Brief Description: This patent application describes mirroring traffic over a network, which relates to network monitoring and duplication, not efficient end-host data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

29. US6681244B1

• Full Citation: US6681244B1 - System and method for operating a network adapter when an associated network computing system is in a low-power state
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-01-20 / Filing: 2000-06-09
• Brief Description: This patent describes operating a network adaptor in a low-power state. This is focused on power management, not data placement efficiency.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

30. US20040019689A1

• Full Citation: US20040019689A1 - System and method for managing multiple stack environments
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-01-29 / Filing: 2002-07-26
• Brief Description: This patent application describes managing multiple network stack environments. This is related to network software architecture, but not specifically to adaptive data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

31. US6687758B2

• Full Citation: US6687758B2 - Port aggregation for network connections that are offloaded to network interface devices
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-02-03 / Filing: 2001-03-07
• Brief Description: This patent describes port aggregation for offloaded network connections. This is relevant to intelligent network adaptors and offloading, but not directly to the adaptive data placement scheme.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be relevant to the general concept of offloading, but less so to the specific adaptive DDP of US7826350.

32. US20040028069A1

• Full Citation: US20040028069A1 - Event bus with passive queuing and active routing
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-02-12 / Filing: 2002-08-07
• Brief Description: This patent application describes an event bus with queuing and routing. While it involves data flow and queuing, it's not directly related to intelligent network adaptor DDP.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

33. US6697868B2

• Full Citation: US6697868B2 - Protocol processing stack for use with intelligent network interface device
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-02-24 / Filing: 2000-02-28
• Brief Description: Another patent from Alacritech, Inc., on protocol processing stacks for intelligent network interface devices. Similar to US6427171B1 and US6226680B1.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the "intelligent network adaptor performs protocol processing of the connection" (Claim 1 preamble).

34. US6701372B2

• Full Citation: US6701372B2 - Data communication apparatus and method
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-03-02 / Filing: 1997-08-22
• Brief Description: This patent describes a general data communication apparatus and method. The description is broad, and it's unclear without further review if it specifically addresses direct data placement or adaptive copy avoidance.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Broadly related, but specific anticipation of US7826350's DDP claims is unlikely without more detail.

35. US20040042487A1

• Full Citation: US20040042487A1 - Network traffic accelerator system and method
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-03-04 / Filing: 2002-08-19
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a network traffic accelerator system. This aims to improve network performance, a goal shared by US7826350.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be relevant to the general objective of accelerated network communication, but likely lacks the specific adaptive DDP mechanisms of US7826350.

36. US6708223B1

• Full Citation: US6708223B1 - Accelerating a distributed component architecture over a network using a modified RPC communication
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-03-16 / Filing: 1998-12-11
• Brief Description: This patent focuses on accelerating distributed component architecture using modified RPC (Remote Procedure Call) communication. This is at a higher software layer than the network adaptor's data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

37. US6708232B2

• Full Citation: US6708232B2 - Data migration method, protocol converter and switching apparatus using it
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-03-16 / Filing: 2000-06-29
• Brief Description: This patent describes a data migration method, protocol converter, and switching apparatus. Its focus is on data movement within a system, potentially relevant to data transfer.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be broadly relevant to data movement, but the specifics of adaptive direct data placement by an intelligent network adaptor for application consumption would likely be distinguishing.

38. US20040054813A1

• Full Citation: US20040054813A1 - TCP offload network interface device
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-03-18 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: Another Alacritech, Inc. patent application concerning a TCP offload network interface device. This reinforces the existence of TOEs as prior art.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the "intelligent network adaptor performs protocol processing of the connection" (Claim 1 preamble) for TCP/IP.

39. US20040064578A1

• Full Citation: US20040064578A1 - Fast-path apparatus for receiving data corresponding to a TCP connection
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-04-01 / Filing: 2002-09-27
• Brief Description: Yet another Alacritech, Inc. patent application describing a "fast-path apparatus" for receiving TCP data. This emphasizes efficient TCP reception.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to efficient TCP reception and potentially direct data placement for TCP connections (parts of Claim 1, 2, 5, 10, 13, 16).

40. US20040064590A1

• Full Citation: US20040064590A1 - Intelligent network storage interface system
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-04-01 / Filing: 2000-09-29
• Brief Description: This patent application describes an intelligent network storage interface system. This could involve direct data placement to storage, which is analogous to direct data placement to host application memory.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be relevant to the general concept of direct data placement from an intelligent network interface to a destination, but the specific adaptive decision-making for application memory of US7826350 would be a distinguishing factor.

41. US20040062245A1

• Full Citation: US20040062245A1 - TCP/IP offload device
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-04-01 / Filing: 2002-04-22
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a TCP/IP offload device. Further evidence of TOE as prior art.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the "intelligent network adaptor performs protocol processing of the connection" (Claim 1 preamble) for TCP/IP.

42. US6717946B1

• Full Citation: US6717946B1 - Methods and apparatus for mapping ranges of values into unique values of particular use for range matching operations using an associative memory
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-04-06 / Filing: 2002-10-31
• Brief Description: This patent describes methods for mapping ranges of values using associative memory. This is generally related to data lookup and processing, but not specifically to adaptive data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

43. US20040073703A1

• Full Citation: US20040073703A1 - Fast-path apparatus for receiving data corresponding a TCP connection
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-04-15 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: Another Alacritech, Inc. patent application on a "fast-path apparatus" for receiving TCP data.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to efficient TCP reception and potentially direct data placement for TCP connections (parts of Claim 1, 2, 5, 10, 13, 16).

44. US20040078480A1

• Full Citation: US20040078480A1 - Parsing a packet header
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-04-22 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent application describes parsing a packet header. This is a fundamental operation in network protocol processing performed by the intelligent network adaptor.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to the "protocol processing" aspect (Claim 1 preamble), but not directly to the adaptive data placement.

45. US20040088262A1

• Full Citation: US20040088262A1 - Enabling an enhanced function of an electronic device
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-05-06 / Filing: 2002-11-06
• Brief Description: This patent application describes enabling enhanced functions of an electronic device. This is a very broad description and unlikely to be specifically anticipatory.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

46. US6757746B2

• Full Citation: US6757746B2 - Obtaining a destination address so that a network interface device can write network data without headers directly into host memory
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-06-29 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent specifically describes obtaining a destination address for a network interface device to write network data without headers directly into host memory. This is a direct description of direct data placement (DDP).
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Extremely relevant. This patent could potentially anticipate the core concept of "providing received payload data corresponding to the request directly into host memory for consumption by the application" (Claim 1, and similar clauses in other independent claims). The "adaptive" decision-making of US7826350 and the conditional copying of data based on input request characteristics (e.g., buffer size) would be the primary distinguishing features.

47. US6757245B1

• Full Citation: US6757245B1 - Apparatus, and associated method, for communicating packet data in a network including a radio-link
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-06-29 / Filing: 2000-06-01
• Brief Description: This patent describes communicating packet data in a network with a radio link. This is focused on wireless communication, not direct data placement in an end-host.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

48. US20040158640A1

• Full Citation: US20040158640A1 - Transferring control of a TCP connection between devices
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-08-12 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent application describes transferring control of a TCP connection, which is relevant to managing offloaded connections.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be relevant to the general management of offloaded connections, but not directly to the adaptive DDP scheme.

49. US20040165592A1

• Full Citation: US20040165592A1 - Extended virtual user-to-network interface with ATM network
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-08-26 / Filing: 2003-02-21
• Brief Description: This patent application describes an extended virtual user-to-network interface with an ATM network. This is related to network interface architecture, but not directly to adaptive data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

50. US6792502B1

• Full Citation: US6792502B1 - Microprocessor having a content addressable memory (CAM) device as a functional unit therein and method of operation
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-09-14 / Filing: 2000-10-12
• Brief Description: This patent describes a microprocessor with content addressable memory (CAM). This is a hardware component for fast lookups, generally useful in network processing but not specific to adaptive DDP.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

51. US6798743B1

• Full Citation: US6798743B1 - Packet prioritization processing technique for routing traffic in a packet-switched computer network
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-09-28 / Filing: 1999-03-22
• Brief Description: This patent describes packet prioritization for routing traffic. This is a network-level traffic management technique.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

52. US20040190533A1

• Full Citation: US20040190533A1 - Method and apparatus for performing connection management with multiple stacks
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-09-30 / Filing: 2003-03-27
• Brief Description: This patent application describes connection management with multiple network stacks. This is relevant to managing network connections but not directly to adaptive data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

53. US20040199808A1

• Full Citation: US20040199808A1 - State recovery and failover of intelligent network adapters
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-10-07 / Filing: 2003-04-02
• Brief Description: This patent application describes state recovery and failover for intelligent network adaptors. This is about reliability, not data placement efficiency.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

54. US6807581B1

• Full Citation: US6807581B1 - Intelligent network storage interface system
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-10-19 / Filing: 2000-09-29
• Brief Description: Another Alacritech, Inc. patent on intelligent network storage interface systems. Similar to US20040064590A1.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be relevant to the general concept of direct data placement from an intelligent network interface to a destination, but the specific adaptive decision-making for application memory of US7826350 would be a distinguishing factor.

55. US20040213235A1

• Full Citation: US20040213235A1 - Programmable packet classification system using an array of uniform content-addressable memories
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-10-28 / Filing: 2003-04-08
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a programmable packet classification system using CAMs. This is about efficient packet filtering and classification, which is part of protocol processing, but not specifically DDP or adaptive copy.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to "protocol processing" (Claim 1 preamble) but not to the adaptive DDP.

56. US6813652B2

• Full Citation: US6813652B2 - Reduced-overhead DMA
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2004-11-02 / Filing: 2001-04-11
• Brief Description: This patent describes reduced-overhead DMA, which is a key component of efficient direct data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant. This could anticipate aspects of "providing received payload data corresponding to the request directly into host memory for consumption by the application" (Claim 1) by describing optimized DMA for direct data transfer. The "adaptive" decision-making of US7826350, particularly based on buffer size and input request characteristics, would likely be the distinguishing element.

57. US6862648B2

• Full Citation: US6862648B2 - Interface emulation for storage devices
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-03-01 / Filing: 2000-10-30
• Brief Description: This patent describes interface emulation for storage devices. While data transfer to storage is analogous to host memory, the focus is on emulation.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms for application memory.

58. US20050083935A1

• Full Citation: US20050083935A1 - Method and apparatus for two-stage packet classification using most specific filter matching and transport level sharing
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-04-21 / Filing: 2003-10-20
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a method for two-stage packet classification. This is relevant to protocol processing (filtering), but not directly to adaptive data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to "protocol processing" (Claim 1 preamble) but not to the adaptive DDP.

59. US20050120037A1

• Full Citation: US20050120037A1 - Apparatus and method for managing network storage, and computer product
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-06-02 / Filing: 2002-07-16
• Brief Description: This patent application describes managing network storage. Similar to other storage-related citations, it's analogous but not directly for host application memory.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be broadly relevant to data management in a network context, but the specific adaptive decision-making for application memory of US7826350 would be a distinguishing factor.

60. US20050125195A1

• Full Citation: US20050125195A1 - Method, apparatus and sofware for network traffic management
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-06-09 / Filing: 2001-12-21
• Brief Description: This patent application describes network traffic management. This is a general area of network efficiency.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

61. US20050135378A1

• Full Citation: US20050135378A1 - Service aware policer with efficient handling of in-profile traffic
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-06-23 / Filing: 2003-12-22
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a "service aware policer" for network traffic, focusing on QoS and traffic shaping.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

62. US20050135412A1

• Full Citation: US20050135412A1 - Method and system for transmission control protocol (TCP) retransmit processing
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-06-23 / Filing: 2003-12-19
• Brief Description: This patent application describes TCP retransmit processing. This is a specific aspect of TCP protocol processing.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to "protocol processing" (Claim 1 preamble) but not directly to the adaptive DDP.

63. US20050147126A1

• Full Citation: US20050147126A1 - Method and system for transmission control packet (TCP) segmentation offload
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-07-07 / Filing: 2004-01-06
• Brief Description: This patent application describes TCP segmentation offload (TSO), where the network adaptor handles segmenting large data blocks for TCP. This is a form of protocol offload.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to the concept of offloading protocol processing (Claim 1 preamble), but not directly to the receive side adaptive DDP or copy avoidance.

64. US6925055B1

• Full Citation: US6925055B1 - Systems and methods for traffic shaping
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-08-02 / Filing: 2001-03-05
• Brief Description: This patent describes systems and methods for traffic shaping. This is a network traffic management technique.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

65. US20050190787A1

• Full Citation: US20050190787A1 - Encoding a TCP offload engine within FCP
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-09-01 / Filing: 2004-02-27
• Brief Description: This patent application describes encoding a TCP offload engine within Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP). This is relevant to TOE technology.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to the concept of TCP offload (Claim 1 preamble).

66. US20050216597A1

• Full Citation: US20050216597A1 - Message context based TCP transmission
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-09-29 / Filing: 2004-03-24
• Brief Description: This patent application describes message context-based TCP transmission. This relates to how TCP data is handled at a higher level, not directly to direct placement in host memory.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms for received data.

67. US20050259678A1

• Full Citation: US20050259678A1 - Network interface controller circuitry
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-11-24 / Filing: 2004-05-21
• Brief Description: This patent application describes network interface controller circuitry. This is a general description of NIC hardware.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be broadly relevant to the hardware of an "intelligent network adaptor" but unlikely to anticipate the specific DDP and adaptive copy logic.

68. US20050259644A1

• Full Citation: US20050259644A1 - System and method for defeating SYN attacks
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-11-24 / Filing: 2004-05-18
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a system for defeating SYN attacks (a type of denial-of-service attack). This is a security feature, not related to data placement efficiency.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

69. US20050289246A1

• Full Citation: US20050289246A1 - Interpreting I/O operation requests from pageable guests without host intervention
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2005-12-29 / Filing: 2004-05-27
• Brief Description: This patent application describes interpreting I/O requests from virtualized "guests" without host intervention. This touches on I/O efficiency and guest/host interaction, which is somewhat related to direct data transfer to applications.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be relevant to the idea of reducing host intervention in I/O, which is a goal of DDP. However, the specific adaptive decision-making based on application request characteristics (e.g., buffer size) in the context of network data would need to be considered carefully.

70. US6996070B2

• Full Citation: US6996070B2 - TCP/IP offload device with reduced sequential processing
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-02-07 / Filing: 2003-12-05
• Brief Description: This patent describes a TCP/IP offload device designed for reduced sequential processing. This aims for performance improvement in TOEs.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to the concept of TCP offload (Claim 1 preamble) and efficient processing within a TOE.

71. US20060031524A1

• Full Citation: US20060031524A1 - Apparatus and method for supporting connection establishment in an offload of network protocol processing
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-02-09 / Filing: 2004-07-14
• Brief Description: This patent application describes supporting connection establishment in an offloaded network protocol processing environment. This is relevant to the "intelligent network adaptor performs protocol processing of the connection" (Claim 1 preamble).
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to offloaded protocol processing (Claim 1 preamble).

72. US20060039413A1

• Full Citation: US20060039413A1 - Apparatus and method for compression-transmitting and decoding picture information and storage medium stored its control programs
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-02-23 / Filing: 1999-09-10
• Brief Description: This patent application describes compression and decoding of picture information. This is focused on media processing, not network data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): No anticipation.

73. US20060075119A1

• Full Citation: US20060075119A1 - TCP host
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-04-06 / Filing: 2004-09-10
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a TCP host. This is a general term, and without more detail, its specific relevance to adaptive DDP is unclear.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Broadly related to TCP, but unlikely to anticipate the specific adaptive DDP mechanisms.

74. US20060080733A1

• Full Citation: US20060080733A1 - Offline analysis of packets
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-04-13 / Filing: 2004-10-08
• Brief Description: This patent application describes offline analysis of packets, which is a diagnostic or monitoring function.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

75. US7031267B2

• Full Citation: US7031267B2 - PLD-based packet filtering methods with PLD configuration data update of filtering rules
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-04-18 / Filing: 2000-12-21
• Brief Description: This patent describes PLD-based packet filtering. This is a hardware-based packet processing technique, relevant to an "intelligent" adaptor's capabilities.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to "protocol processing" (Claim 1 preamble) but not directly to the adaptive DDP.

76. US7042898B2

• Full Citation: US7042898B2 - Reducing delays associated with inserting a checksum into a network message
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-05-09 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent describes reducing delays associated with checksum insertion. This is a performance optimization for network processing.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to optimizing network processing (Claim 1 preamble) but not directly to the adaptive DDP.

77. US20060133267A1

• Full Citation: US20060133267A1 - Processing platform selection method for data packet filter installation
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-06-22 / Filing: 2004-12-21
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a method for selecting a processing platform for data packet filter installation. This relates to network processing architecture.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

78. US7076568B2

• Full Citation: US7076568B2 - Data communication apparatus for computer intelligent network interface card which transfers data between a network and a storage device according designated uniform datagram protocol socket
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-07-11 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: This patent describes a data communication apparatus for an intelligent network interface card that transfers data between a network and a storage device. This is highly relevant to direct data placement, particularly to a storage device.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant. This patent describes DDP to a storage device, which is analogous to DDP to host application memory. This could potentially anticipate the broad concept of direct data placement (Claim 1) but again, the adaptive decision-making based on application request characteristics and buffer size would be key for distinguishing US7826350.

79. US20060168649A1

• Full Citation: US20060168649A1 - Method and system for addressing attacks on a computer connected to a network
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-07-27 / Filing: 2004-10-26
• Brief Description: This patent application describes methods for addressing network attacks. This is a security feature.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

80. US7089326B2

• Full Citation: US7089326B2 - Fast-path processing for receiving data on TCP connection offload devices
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-08-08 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: Another Alacritech, Inc. patent on "fast-path processing" for receiving TCP data on offload devices. This is a strong prior art for efficient TCP reception by TOEs.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant. This patent could potentially anticipate efficient TCP reception and potentially direct data placement for TCP connections (parts of Claim 1, 2, 5, 10, 13, 16).

81. US7093099B2

• Full Citation: US7093099B2 - Native lookup instruction for file-access processor searching a three-level lookup cache for variable-length keys
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-08-15 / Filing: 2002-12-12
• Brief Description: This patent describes a native lookup instruction for a file-access processor. This relates to file system processing and caching, not directly to network adaptor DDP.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

82. US20060206300A1

• Full Citation: US20060206300A1 - VM network traffic monitoring and filtering on the host
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-09-14 / Filing: 2005-03-11
• Brief Description: This patent application describes VM network traffic monitoring and filtering on the host. This relates to virtualization and network security/management.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

83. US20060209693A1

• Full Citation: US20060209693A1 - Feedback priority modulation rate controller
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-09-21 / Filing: 2001-01-31
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a feedback priority modulation rate controller. This relates to flow control and prioritization.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be broadly relevant to flow control, which is a part of US7826350's description, but not directly to the adaptive DDP decision-making.

84. US20060221946A1

• Full Citation: US20060221946A1 - Connection establishment on a tcp offload engine
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-10-05 / Filing: 2005-04-04
• Brief Description: This patent application describes connection establishment on a TCP offload engine. This is a specific aspect of TOE functionality.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to the concept of TCP offload (Claim 1 preamble).

85. US7133914B1

• Full Citation: US7133914B1 - Statistics-preserving ACL flattening system and method
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-11-07 / Filing: 2001-10-31
• Brief Description: This patent describes an ACL (Access Control List) flattening system. This is a network security/filtering mechanism.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

86. US7133902B2

• Full Citation: US7133902B2 - Transmitting acknowledgements using direct memory access
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-11-07 / Filing: 2002-12-17
• Brief Description: This patent describes transmitting acknowledgements using direct memory access. While it mentions DMA, it's for transmitting acknowledgements, not for receiving application data.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): While it mentions DMA, its application is different (transmit vs. receive, acknowledgements vs. application payload). Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's receive side adaptive DDP.

87. US20060281451A1

• Full Citation: US20060281451A1 - Method and system for handling connection setup in a network
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2006-12-14 / Filing: 2005-06-14
• Brief Description: This patent application describes handling connection setup in a network.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to connection management, but not directly to adaptive DDP.

88. US20070011358A1

• Full Citation: US20070011358A1 - Mechanisms to implement memory management to enable protocol-aware asynchronous, zero-copy transmits
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-01-11 / Filing: 2005-06-30
• Brief Description: This patent application describes memory management for "protocol-aware asynchronous, zero-copy transmits". While it mentions "zero-copy" and "protocol-aware", it is focused on transmit operations, not receive.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be relevant to the general concept of zero-copy, but specifically for transmit, which is distinct from the receive-side adaptive DDP of US7826350.

89. US7167927B2

• Full Citation: US7167927B2 - TCP/IP offload device with fast-path TCP ACK generating and transmitting mechanism
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-01-23 / Filing: 1997-10-14
• Brief Description: Another Alacritech, Inc. patent related to TCP/IP offload, specifically for fast-path ACK generation and transmission. This is a transmit-side optimization.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to TCP offload, but focused on transmit-side mechanisms, not adaptive receive-side DDP.

90. US7174393B2

• Full Citation: US7174393B2 - TCP/IP offload network interface device
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-02-06 / Filing: 2000-12-26
• Brief Description: Another Alacritech, Inc. patent on a TCP/IP offload network interface device.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the concept of TCP offload (Claim 1 preamble).

91. US7191241B2

• Full Citation: US7191241B2 - Fast-path apparatus for receiving data corresponding to a TCP connection
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-03-13 / Filing: 2002-09-27
• Brief Description: Another Alacritech, Inc. patent on a "fast-path apparatus" for receiving TCP data.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to efficient TCP reception and potentially direct data placement for TCP connections (parts of Claim 1, 2, 5, 10, 13, 16).

92. US7191318B2

• Full Citation: US7191318B2 - Native copy instruction for file-access processor with copy-rule-based validation
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-03-13 / Filing: 2002-12-12
• Brief Description: This patent describes a native copy instruction for a file-access processor. This is related to data movement within a system, but not directly to network adaptor-driven direct data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

93. US20070064737A1

• Full Citation: US20070064737A1 - Receive coalescing and automatic acknowledge in network interface controller
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-03-22 / Filing: 2005-09-07
• Brief Description: This patent application describes receive coalescing (grouping multiple small packets into a larger one to reduce interrupts) and automatic acknowledgements in a network interface controller. Receive coalescing is related to reducing host burden, a goal of US7826350.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to reducing host notifications (a component of US7826350's system) but not directly to the adaptive decision for direct data placement or copying.

94. US20070070901A1

• Full Citation: US20070070901A1 - Method and system for quality of service and congestion management for converged network interface devices
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-03-29 / Filing: 2005-09-29
• Brief Description: This patent application describes QoS and congestion management for converged network interface devices.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

95. US20070083638A1

• Full Citation: US20070083638A1 - Offloaded neighbor cache entry synchronization
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-04-12 / Filing: 2005-08-31
• Brief Description: This patent application describes offloaded neighbor cache entry synchronization. This is related to network protocol management.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

96. US20070110436A1

• Full Citation: US20070110436A1 - Primary protocol stack having a secondary protocol stack entry point
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-05-17 / Filing: 2005-11-14
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a primary protocol stack with a secondary entry point. This relates to network software architecture.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

97. US7239642B1

• Full Citation: US7239642B1 - Multi-protocol network interface card
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-07-03 / Filing: 2001-07-16
• Brief Description: This patent describes a multi-protocol network interface card. This is a general description of NIC capabilities.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Broadly related to network interface cards, but unlikely to anticipate the specific DDP and adaptive copy logic.

98. US7254637B2

• Full Citation: US7254637B2 - Method to offload a network stack
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-08-07 / Filing: 2002-04-30
• Brief Description: This patent describes a method to offload a network stack. This is a core concept for "intelligent network adaptors" that perform "protocol processing of the connection."
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the "intelligent network adaptor performs protocol processing of the connection" (Claim 1 preamble).

99. US7260631B1

• Full Citation: US7260631B1 - System and method for receiving iSCSI protocol data units
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-08-21 / Filing: 2003-12-19
• Brief Description: This patent describes a system and method for receiving iSCSI protocol data units. iSCSI is a protocol that uses TCP/IP and often benefits from offload and DDP.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Relevant to the application of offload and DDP for specific protocols, but may not detail the adaptive decision-making of US7826350.

100. US20070201474A1

• Full Citation: US20070201474A1 - Device for protection against illegal communications and network system thereof
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-08-30 / Filing: 2006-02-28
• Brief Description: This patent application describes a device for protection against illegal communications. This is a security feature.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

101. US7284047B2

• Full Citation: US7284047B2 - System and method for controlling network demand via congestion pricing
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-10-16 / Filing: 2001-11-08
• Brief Description: This patent describes a system for controlling network demand via congestion pricing. This is a network management/economic model.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

102. US7313623B2

• Full Citation: US7313623B2 - System and method for TCP/IP offload independent of bandwidth delay product
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2007-12-25 / Filing: 2002-08-30
• Brief Description: This patent describes a system and method for TCP/IP offload. This is a very direct piece of prior art for the "intelligent network adaptor performs protocol processing of the connection" (Claim 1 preamble).
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the concept of TCP offload (Claim 1 preamble).

103. US20080002731A1

• Full Citation: US20080002731A1 - Full data link bypass
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2008-01-03 / Filing: 2006-06-30
• Brief Description: This patent application describes full data link bypass. This could imply very direct data paths, potentially supporting direct data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Could be relevant to the idea of minimizing intermediate processing for data, but the "adaptive" decision-making of US7826350 would still be a distinguishing feature.

104. US20080016511A1

• Full Citation: US20080016511A1 - Method and computer program product for offloading processing tasks from software to hardware
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2008-01-17 / Filing: 1998-06-12
• Brief Description: This patent application describes offloading processing tasks from software to hardware. This is a fundamental concept behind intelligent network adaptors and protocol offload.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Highly relevant to the overarching concept of offloading (Claim 1 preamble), but likely lacks the specific adaptive DDP mechanisms.

105. US20080043750A1

• Full Citation: US20080043750A1 - Apparatus and method for in-line insertion and removal of markers
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2008-02-21 / Filing: 2006-01-19
• Brief Description: This patent application describes in-line insertion and removal of markers. This is a data manipulation technique, not directly related to direct data placement.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

106. US7376147B2

• Full Citation: US7376147B2 - Adaptor supporting different protocols
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2008-05-20 / Filing: 2003-12-18
• Brief Description: This patent describes an adaptor supporting different protocols. This is a general feature of network adaptors.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Broadly related, but unlikely to anticipate the specific DDP and adaptive copy logic.

107. US7408906B2

• Full Citation: US7408906B2 - Mobile data communications apparatus, methods and computer program products implementing cellular wireless data communications via a wireless
• Publication/Filing Date: Publication: 2008-08-05 / Filing: 2002-02-20
• Brief Description: This patent describes mobile data communications via wireless. This is focused on wireless technology.
• Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): Unlikely to anticipate US7826350's specific DDP mechanisms.

Most Relevant Prior Art Summary:

The most relevant prior art for US Patent 7,826,350 generally falls into two categories:

1. TCP Offload Engines (TOEs) and Intelligent Network Adaptors (INAs) with Protocol Processing: Numerous patents, primarily from Alacritech, Inc., describe INAs and TOEs that perform protocol processing (e.g., US6226680B1, US6389479B1, US6427173B1, US6427171B1, US6434620B1, US6658480B2, US20040054813A1, US20040062245A1, US6697868B2, US7089326B2, US7174393B2, US7191241B2, US7254637B2, US7313623B2). These patents anticipate the general concept of an intelligent network adaptor offloading protocol processing, which is a foundational element in the preamble of all independent claims of US7826350.

2. Direct Data Placement (DDP) and DMA Technologies: Several patents describe mechanisms for direct data placement or reduced-overhead DMA.

   • US6757746B2 is particularly significant as it explicitly discusses a network interface device writing network data without headers directly into host memory. This directly anticipates the core DDP aspect of US7826350.
   • US20010021949A1 describes a network interface device employing a DMA command queue, which is fundamental to direct data placement.
   • US6813652B2 describes reduced-overhead DMA.
   • US5497476A (scatter-gather) and US7076568B2 (DDP to storage) also show related concepts of efficient data movement.

Potential Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102:

The distinguishing features of US7826350, as seen in its independent claims (Claims 1, 2, 5, 10, 13, 16), appear to lie in the adaptive decision-making of whether to use direct data placement and the conditional copying of data when direct placement is not initially possible or optimal. Specifically, Claim 1 highlights "determining whether to configure the intelligent network adaptor to provide received payload data corresponding to the request directly into host memory for consumption by the application; and... determining a destination for the application payload data including determining whether the intelligent network adaptor has been configured for the particular connection such that payload data... is to be provided from the intelligent network adaptor to host memory directly associated with the application... or is provided... to host memory that is not provided for consumption by the application". It further clarifies this determination is based on "a characteristic of an input request by the application" and "an indication of a size of the memory associated with the request". Claims 2, 5, 10, 13, and 16 further detail the conditional copying of data from a temporary (OS-associated or not application-associated) buffer to the application's buffer.

While the Alacritech patents establish the prior art for TOEs and general direct data placement (especially US6757746B2), they do not explicitly teach the adaptive decision-making process for selectively performing direct data placement based on application request characteristics and buffer size, or the specific interplay between direct placement and conditional copying as described in US7826350's claims. Therefore, these prior art references might anticipate the individual components of protocol offloading and direct memory access, but not necessarily the specific adaptive scheme and conditional copying that form the inventive step of US7826350.

Obviousness Analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 103

A patent claim is unpatentable if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) to which the claimed invention pertains. The PHOSITA is a hypothetical person, not a genius or an inventor, who possesses ordinary skill, ordinary creativity, and ordinary knowledge in the relevant technical field at the relevant time, and is expected to follow conventional wisdom and apply known techniques in a predictable manner. To demonstrate obviousness, there must be a motivation to combine prior art teachings to arrive at the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success. This motivation can exist when references address the same problem and one reference provides a known technique that would suitably address that problem.

The patent US7826350 is directed to an intelligent network adaptor with an adaptive direct data placement scheme, aiming to improve receive data communication efficiency by selectively placing application data directly into application memory and moderating notification rates.

Person Having Ordinary Skill in the Art (PHOSITA)

In the context of US7826350, a PHOSITA would likely be a computer engineer or software developer with experience in network interface card (NIC) design, operating system network stacks, and high-performance data communication. This individual would be familiar with concepts such as TCP/IP offload engines (TOE), direct memory access (DMA), memory management, and various buffering strategies employed in network communication. They would also be aware of the challenges associated with high packet arrival rates, host processor overhead, and data copying latency in high-speed networks, as explicitly stated in the patent's background.

Potential Prior Art Combinations and Motivations

While a comprehensive prior art search is outside the scope of this analysis, based on the patent's own cited prior art and the general state of the art as described, several combinations could lead to an obviousness challenge. The patent itself mentions that "direct data placement (DDP) is known" and "it is now common for network adaptors to implement intelligence for the support of host processing, including to partly or completely offload protocol processing. Such adaptors are sometimes referred to as intelligent network adaptors." This suggests that the individual elements of "intelligent network adaptor" and "direct data placement" were known in the art.

The core innovative aspect of US7826350 lies in the adaptive nature of the direct data placement scheme and the selective provision of application memory information to the intelligent network adaptor (Claim 1), coupled with potential initial copying of data to an OS-associated buffer before direct placement into application memory (Claim 2, 5, 16). The patent also highlights the moderation of notification rates.

Here are potential combinations of prior art and motivations to combine, assuming relevant prior art exists disclosing the individual elements:

Combination 1: Intelligent Network Adaptor + Direct Data Placement (DDP) + Adaptive Buffer Management (e.g., based on buffer size)

• Hypothetical Prior Art 1: A patent or publication disclosing an "intelligent network adaptor" capable of offloading protocol processing (e.g., a TCP Offload Engine or TOE) and generally supporting Direct Data Placement (DDP) to host memory. For instance, US6226680B1 (Alacritech, Inc., "Intelligent network interface system method for protocol processing") and US6434620B1 (Alacritech, Inc., "TCP/IP offload network interface device") are cited references that broadly relate to intelligent network interfaces and TCP/IP offload. While not explicitly detailed in the provided text, it's reasonable to assume these or similar documents would teach the basic concept of an intelligent NIC performing DDP.
• Hypothetical Prior Art 2: A patent or publication disclosing methods for managing host memory buffers for network data, recognizing the overhead associated with data copying versus zero-copy mechanisms, and potentially discussing criteria for choosing between them, such as buffer size. This could come from a general operating system or network driver optimization technique.
• Motivation to Combine: A PHOSITA would be motivated to combine an intelligent network adaptor with DDP capabilities (Prior Art 1) with buffer management strategies (Prior Art 2) to optimize data transfer efficiency. The patent itself identifies the challenge of "memory bandwidth resources to copy application payload data from the operating system buffers to application buffers" and the "tradeoff between the cost of copying packet payload... and overhead cost associated with mapping an application buffer into a chain of memory descriptors (for zero copy)." This explicitly states the problem and the motivation to find an optimal solution. The idea of making an "adaptive copy vs. zero-copy decision... depending on various criteria" (as described in the patent) would be a logical step for a PHOSITA seeking to improve overall performance and reduce host burden. Specifically, using the size of the application buffer as a criterion for this adaptive decision (as claimed in Claim 1) is presented in the patent as a solution to this known tradeoff. If Prior Art 2 teaches this tradeoff and potential criteria, combining it with Prior Art 1 would be obvious.

Combination 2: Intelligent Network Adaptor + DDP + Initial Copy to OS Buffer + Subsequent Direct Placement

• Hypothetical Prior Art 1: As above, an intelligent network adaptor with DDP capabilities.
• Hypothetical Prior Art 2: A patent or publication addressing the scenario where an application may not have a receive buffer posted when data arrives, suggesting temporary storage in adaptor memory or an operating system buffer. The patent explicitly states, "Data that arrives during the time the application has no receive request in place may be saved in some memory—either in memory of the intelligent network adaptor or in host memory (e.g., in memory controlled by the operating system)."
• Motivation to Combine: A PHOSITA, faced with the problem of optimizing data delivery when application buffers are not immediately available (e.g., in synchronous I/O scenarios), would be motivated to combine the DDP capabilities of an intelligent NIC (Prior Art 1) with a strategy for handling temporarily un-posted application buffers (Prior Art 2). The patent describes this as using an operating system buffer "to save the received data" and then copying it to the application buffer when available, while subsequent data for the same request can be directly placed by the adaptor at an offset. This "adaptive copy avoidance" scheme addresses the latency of data transfer while enabling eventual zero-copy for later portions of the data. This combination would be obvious to a PHOSITA looking to minimize idle times and delays and reduce the likelihood of dropping packets, especially in the absence of continuous application buffer availability. The concept of performing the initial copy in parallel with setting up zero-copy for subsequent data (as described in the patent) further reinforces the motivation to improve efficiency.

Combination 3: Intelligent Network Adaptor + Moderated Notification Rate + Application-Level Signaling

• Hypothetical Prior Art 1: An intelligent network adaptor offloading protocol processing and capable of sending notifications to the host.
• Hypothetical Prior Art 2: A patent or publication discussing methods for moderating interrupt rates or host notifications in high-speed network environments, perhaps mentioning batching notifications or using timers. The patent notes that "Interrupt rate moderation schemes are known, but have limited effectiveness."
• Hypothetical Prior Art 3: A patent or publication discussing the interpretation of transport layer (e.g., TCP) control flags (FIN, URG, PSH) or application-level information for signaling important events. The patent explicitly describes how TCP flags "may loosely be considered application level signaling."
• Motivation to Combine: A PHOSITA would be motivated to combine an intelligent network adaptor (Prior Art 1) with known notification moderation techniques (Prior Art 2) to reduce host processing load. To ensure that reducing notifications does not negatively impact application latency or awareness of critical events, a PHOSITA would also incorporate the use of application-level signaling or transport-layer flags (Prior Art 3) to trigger "useful notifications" (as described in the patent). The patent clearly outlines the motivation: "an intelligent reduction in notification rate regarding data received from the network... may improve host system performance without affecting (or with minimal effect on) communication latency." Triggering notifications based on specific TCP flags (FIN, URG, PSH) or when a buffer is full, or a timer elapses (as described in the patent), directly addresses this motivation.

Consideration of Secondary Considerations:
The patent does not provide information regarding secondary considerations of non-obviousness such as commercial success, long-felt need, unexpected results, or industry acquiescence. In the absence of such information, the analysis primarily relies on the content of the prior art and the motivation of a PHOSITA to combine them.

It is important to note that without the specific content of the cited prior art references (or other relevant prior art), these are illustrative combinations. A definitive obviousness determination would require a thorough review of the actual disclosures of the identified prior art.