Mechanism to save system power using packet filtering by network interface

摘要

A network interface that connects a computing device to a network may be configured to process incoming packets and determine an action to take with respect to each packet, thus decreasing processing demands on a processor of the computing device. The action may be indicating the packet to an operating system of the computing device immediately, storing the packet in a queue of one or more queues or discarding the packet. When the processor is interrupted, multiple packets aggregated on the network interface may be indicated to the operating system all at once to increase the device's power efficiency. Hardware of the network interface may be programmed to process the packets using filter criteria specified by the operating system based on information gathered by the operating system, such as firewall rules.

主权项

1. A method of operating a network interface adapted for connecting a computing device to a network, wherein the computing device has a processor with a low power mode and a normal power mode, the method comprising:
the network interface receiving packets over the network; and the network interface determining, for each packet of the received packets, an action to perform on the packet, including the network interface selecting the action from among at least indicating the packet to an operating system of the computing device immediately by a processor interrupt, delaying indication of the packet to the operating system, and discarding the packet, wherein the network interface, when delaying indication of a packet, places the packet in a queue in the network interface, wherein delaying packets is performed while the processor is in the low power mode, and wherein the network interface, when indicating a packet to the operating system immediately by the processor interrupt when the processor is in the low power mode, also indicates any packets in the queue to the operating system, and the processor exits the low power mode and switches to the normal power mode when the processor interrupt is generated.