Patent ID: 7986616
Filing Date: 2011-07-26
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A network device comprising: ports for sending and receiving data; a layer 2 table; a modification buffer; and an ingress module that includes a first buffer and FIFO buffer, the ingress module being configured for performing lookups for layer 2 switching and for maintaining the layer 2 table and the modification buffer, wherein the ingress module is configured to add entries to the modification buffer when the layer 2 table is modified and in an order in which the layer 2 table was modified, such that the layer 2 table can be reconstructed based on the entries of the modification buffer, wherein the ingress module is configured to perform a learn operation, the learn operation including marking a packet for a learn operation and storing a learn entry associated with a packet in the first buffer, wherein the first buffer includes an entry for each port on the network device and each entry includes a first bit for indicating a status of the packet and a second bit for indicating if there is a source address in the entry, and wherein if the status of the packet is known, if the packet is received without errors, and if there is room in the FIFO buffer, the learn entry is copied from the first buffer to the FIFO buffer.