Patent ID: 6032190
Filing Date: 2000-02-29
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
An apparatus for processing a data packet to determine the routing of the data packet through a communications network, the data packet having a header portion and a data portion, the apparatus comprising:means for storing the header portion of the data packet;means, connected to the header storing means, for processing the header portion of the data packet;said processing means comprising:a processing core for executing instructions for processing the header portion,means, responsive to an instruction from the processing core and a first value contained within said header portion, for searching through a route table to determine a route of the data packet,means, responsive to an instruction from the processing core and a second value contained within said header portion, for searching through a table memory for information about the destination of the data packet, wherein said table memory includes an interface table storing information related to one or more interfaces and a circuit table storing information related to one or more virtual circuits,said processing core, said route table search means and said table memory search means operating simultaneously to process said header portion and generate one of an internal header and a network media header; andmeans for generating a modified header portion containing at least some of the received header portion together with said generated one of the internal header and the network media header.