A semiconductor chip for implementing load-aware equal-cost multipath, ECMP, the semiconductor chip comprising: a plurality of ports; a plurality of pipes, each pipe being coupled to a portion of the plurality of ports; and a central unit comprising a state machine and a plurality of databases, wherein: the plurality of databases are configured to contain information regarding a communication network including an overlay network and an underlay network, the state machine is implemented in hardware and is configured to determine at least one feature of the overlay network and a corresponding group of paths within the underlay network to overcome a dynamic network situation, wherein the dynamic network situation comprises a network congestion, and wherein the state machine is configured to check entry by entry of overlay network and underlay network group tables and members tables to determine a desired set of the plurality of ports for a group of paths to reduce the network congestion, and wherein the state machine is configured to enforce a minimum inactivity period for an entry of a member table by: setting a hit bit maintained per an entry of members tables of the underlay network to 1 when the entry is referenced by a packet, checking the hit bit at a time of periodic state machine updates to the members tables and making an update to the entry when a value of the hit bit is 0, and automatically enforcing a programmed minimum activity period for a minimum inactivity check, when an update rate of the state machine per entry corresponds to a programmed minimum activity period. a plurality of ports; a plurality of pipes, each pipe being coupled to a portion of the plurality of ports; and a central unit comprising a state machine and a plurality of databases, wherein: the plurality of databases are configured to contain information regarding a communication network including an overlay network and an underlay network, the state machine is implemented in hardware and is configured to determine at least one feature of the overlay network and a corresponding group of paths within the underlay network to overcome a dynamic network situation, wherein the dynamic network situation comprises a network congestion, and wherein the state machine is configured to check entry by entry of overlay network and underlay network group tables and members tables to determine a desired set of the plurality of ports for a group of paths to reduce the network congestion, and wherein the state machine is configured to enforce a minimum inactivity period for an entry of a member table by: setting a hit bit maintained per an entry of members tables of the underlay network to 1 when the entry is referenced by a packet, checking the hit bit at a time of periodic state machine updates to the members tables and making an update to the entry when a value of the hit bit is 0, and automatically enforcing a programmed minimum activity period for a minimum inactivity check, when an update rate of the state machine per entry corresponds to a programmed minimum activity period. the plurality of databases are configured to contain information regarding a communication network including an overlay network and an underlay network, the state machine is implemented in hardware and is configured to determine at least one feature of the overlay network and a corresponding group of paths within the underlay network to overcome a dynamic network situation, wherein the dynamic network situation comprises a network congestion, and wherein the state machine is configured to check entry by entry of overlay network and underlay network group tables and members tables to determine a desired set of the plurality of ports for a group of paths to reduce the network congestion, and wherein the state machine is configured to enforce a minimum inactivity period for an entry of a member table by: setting a hit bit maintained per an entry of members tables of the underlay network to 1 when the entry is referenced by a packet, checking the hit bit at a time of periodic state machine updates to the members tables and making an update to the entry when a value of the hit bit is 0, and automatically enforcing a programmed minimum activity period for a minimum inactivity check, when an update rate of the state machine per entry corresponds to a programmed minimum activity period. setting a hit bit maintained per an entry of members tables of the underlay network to 1 when the entry is referenced by a packet, checking the hit bit at a time of periodic state machine updates to the members tables and making an update to the entry when a value of the hit bit is 0, and automatically enforcing a programmed minimum activity period for a minimum inactivity check, when an update rate of the state machine per entry corresponds to a programmed minimum activity period.