A network interface device includes a random access memory used as a
transmit and receive buffer for transmission and reception of data between
a host computer bus and a packet switched network. The network interface
device includes a memory controller that determines whether a complete
frame is stored in the random access memory and also determines an amount
of data available to be read from the oldest received frame. A host CPU is
able to access this information and determine whether to read the data or
read the data at a later time.
