Method and apparatus for end-to-end encryption of a data packet in a computer network

摘要

A technique to facilitate decryption processing of information packets transmitted over a communication network after encryption in accordance with a specific network protocol, the details of which may be subject to later change as standards are developed or modified. Programmable registers are used in the decryption process to hold information for identifying an incoming information packet as being subject to the specific protocol and requiring decryption, and identifying a starting location of a data field to be decrypted. Specifically one programmable register contains a first offset locating an identifier field in the packet, in which a cryptographic identifier will be found if the packet is one conforming to the protocol; another programmable register contains a cryptographic identifier value that will be found in the identifier field if decryption is to be performed, and a third programmable register contains a second offset to locate the beginning of a data field to be decrypted.