Patent ID: 7787466
Filing Date: 2010-08-31
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method performed by a network device, comprising: receiving, at the network device, a packet including a destination address; providing, by the network device, a first forwarding table and a second forwarding table, the first forwarding table including a plurality of entries, a first one of the plurality of entries including information identifying a device in a first network and a second one of the plurality of entries including a pointer to the second forwarding table, the second forwarding table including a plurality of entries including information identifying a plurality of devices in a second network that differs from the first network; determining, by the network device, that the destination address corresponds to a discrete address range associated with the second one of the plurality of the entries in the first forwarding table including the pointer to the second forwarding table; and identifying, by the network device and based on the destination address, an entry in the second forwarding table, pointed to by the pointer and associated with the discrete address range, that identifies one or more of the devices in the second network.