Speculative loading of buffers within a port of a network device

摘要

In one embodiment a method for processing an incoming packet in a port of an interconnect device includes speculatively forwarding the incoming packet to multiple buffers within the port prior to determining which of the multiple buffers is a target buffer for the packet, decoding the packet, and determining which of the multiple buffers is the target buffer for the packet using the decoded packet. The method further includes notifying an agent associated with the target buffer that the target buffer is an intended owner of the data packet. In one embodiment, agents associated with the multiple buffers are designated to process packets that are not subject to a credit-based flow control method.