Patent ID: 7664116

Claim:
A method for routing frames comprising: receiving frames using a plurality of ports of a switch, each of the frames including a source address, a destination address, and a payload, at least some portion of the frames including one or more tags, each of the tags specifying a group identification, a switch identification, and a port identification, wherein the switch is part of a switch group and the switch group is part of a switch network; maintaining routing information in the switch indicating an output one of the ports for each other switch in the switch group; for each of the frames, operating in a first mode of operation if the frame conforms to a special routing protocol, and, if the frame does not conform, operating in a second mode of operation; in the first mode of operation: reading a first of the tags in the frame; determining whether the switch identification of the first of the tags corresponds to the switch; if the switch identification does not correspond to the switch, accessing the routing information to determine the output one of the ports corresponding to the switch identification and transmitting the frame on the determined output one of the ports; and if the switch identification corresponds to the switch, transmitting the frame on the one of the ports corresponding to the port identification of the first of the tags; and in the second mode of operation, processing the frame according to a standard routing protocol.