Patent ID: 7876752
Filing Date: 2011-01-25
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for routing a network packet received at a port within a network, comprising: (a) determining an index value based on a destination identifier for the network packet; (b) determining one or more physical port numbers based on the index value determined in step (a); wherein each port number identifies a port for sending and receiving network packets; (c) determining a direction selector signal from a partition key table based on a partition key value embedded in the network packet, wherein the partition key value is used as an index into the partition key table to determine the direction selector signal, wherein the partition key table is configured to store a plurality of partition key values and each partition key is associated with a direction selector signal that is used for selecting a network switch port to route the network packet; and (d) selecting one of the physical port numbers to route the network packet based on the direction selector signal.