Patent ID: 7299296

Claim:
A method of forwarding packets using a router having a plurality of input interfaces coupled to a centralized control unit, the method comprising: maintaining, within the control unit, a plurality of forwarding tables that each associate a plurality of network destinations with next hops in a network; maintaining, within the control unit, a plurality of sets of forwarding filters, wherein each of the sets of forwarding filters corresponds to a different one of the plurality of forwarding tables, and wherein each of the forwarding filters include at least one forwarding rule and an associated action; receiving, with one of the plurality of input interfaces, a data unit from the network; forwarding the data unit from the input interface that received the packet to the control unit; selecting, with the control unit, one of the plurality of forwarding tables to be used by the control unit to forward the packet; selectively applying to the data unit only the forwarding rules and associated actions of the forwarding filters of the set of forwarding filters that corresponds to the selected forwarding table; and forwarding the data unit with the control unit to an output interface in accordance with the selected one of the plurality of forwarding tables maintained by the control unit.