Patent ID: 9455936
Filing Date: 2016-09-27
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A network relay device comprising: a plurality of ports including a first port group to which a first internal identifier is set and a second port group to which a second internal identifier is set; an address table; and a frame processing unit for relaying a frame to/from the plurality of ports based on the address table, wherein, when a transmission-source address of a frame received at the first port group and the second port group is learned, the frame processing unit performs a hash calculation for the first port group and the second port group by using the transmission-source address and one of the first internal identifier and the second internal identifier, the one of the first internal identifier and the second internal identifier being used for performing the hash calculation for both of the first port group and the second port group, and registers the transmission-source address, an identifier of a port at which the frame has been received, and the internal identifier set to the port group to which the port belongs, in an entry inside the address table obtained by the hash calculation, and wherein, when a transmission-destination address of the frame received at the first port group and the second port group is retrieved, the frame processing unit performs a hash calculation by using the transmission-destination address and the same one of the internal identifiers as the internal identifier used in the learning, reads out an entry inside the address table obtained by the hash calculation, and compares the internal identifier registered in the entry with an internal identifier set to the port group to which a port, at which the frame has been received, belongs, so that it is determined that the frame is to be relayed so as to be either inside the same port group or be bridged between the port groups.