Efficient memory management system for minimizing overhead in storage of data transmitted in a network

摘要

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for storing additional information, such as HOLE information, within a buffer while minimizing the overhead. A method according to the present invention for efficiently storing additional information in a memory, the memory including at least one address, the memory for storing at least a portion of a packet to be transferred by a network system, the method comprising the steps of determining whether the at least a portion of a packet ends at a boundary of the at least one address; encoding a portion of the packet to indicate that the packet ends at the address boundary if the packet ends at the address boundary; and encoding a portion of the at least one address to indicate that the packet does not end at the address boundary, if the packet does not end at the address boundary.