Patent ID: 7813346

Claim:
A method of routing packets by a networking device, comprising: generating a first forwarding table; generating a second forwarding table; programming a filter to perform a first lookup operation in the first forwarding table if a first field value of a received packet meets one or more conditions of a first set of conditions; programming the filter to initiate a second lookup operation in the second forwarding table if the first field value does not meet one or more conditions of the first set of conditions; receiving a particular packet; determining, by the filter, whether the first field value of the particular packet meets the one or more conditions of the first set of conditions; performing the first lookup operation in the first forwarding table without performing the second lookup operation in the second forwarding table, to identify a first egress port, of the networking device, when the first field value of the particular packet meets the one or more conditions; performing the second lookup operation in the second forwarding table, without performing the first lookup operation in the first forwarding table, to identify a second egress port, of the networking device, when the first field value of the particular packet does not meet the one or more conditions; and forwarding the particular packet to the identified first egress port or the identified second egress port.