| CPC H04L 49/506 (2013.01) [H04L 45/66 (2013.01); H04L 49/101 (2013.01); H04L 49/103 (2013.01); H04L 49/30 (2013.01); H04L 49/9021 (2013.01); H04L 69/161 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |

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1. A network interface device configured to interface between a network and a host device, the network interface device comprising:
first network interface device circuitry;
host interface circuitry;
host offload circuitry; and
interface circuitry coupled to: i) the first network interface device circuitry, ii) the host interface circuitry, and iii) the host offload circuitry, the interface circuitry comprising a plurality of hardware ports;
wherein the first network interface device circuitry has at least one port configured to be coupled to at least one respective port of the interface circuitry,
wherein the host interface circuitry is configured to interface to the host device, said host interface circuitry having at least one port configured to be coupled to respective port of the interface circuitry,
wherein the host offload circuitry is configured to perform an offload operation for the host device, said host offload circuitry having at least one port configured to be coupled to respective port of the interface circuitry, and
wherein the host offload circuitry comprises slices, each slice capable of being switched dynamically from processing received data to processing transmitted data.
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