Patent ID: 8265087

Claim:
A gateway apparatus to which more than three communication channels are connected, and that performs a transfer control of frame data among the more than three communication channels, each communication channel being equipped with a different communication bus respectively, the gateway apparatus comprising: a storing portion that stores a routing map having ID information about the frame data, transfer-destination communication channel information representing a transfer destination communication channel indicated by the ID information, and receive-allowed communication channel information representing a communication channel allowed to use the ID information, the routing map being commonly used by more than three communication channels; and a selecting portion that inputs the frame data transmitted from the more than three communication channels, adds receive communication channel information to the frame data, and outputs the frame data to a search engine unit, the search engine unit being provided for more than three communication channels, wherein the search engine unit routes the frame data to a transfer destination communication channel based on the ID information about the received frame data and the transfer-destination communication channel information being recorded in the routing map, the transfer-destination communication channel being recorded in the routing map as the transfer-destination communication channel corresponding to the ID information about the received frame data, wherein the search engine unit does not transfer the frame data to a communication bus that is a transfer destination communication channel when the ID information about the received frame data is ID information that is not used in a communication bus which receives the frame data based on the received-allowed communication channel information, and wherein the search engine unit determines a communication bus which receives the frame data, based on a communication channel from which the frame data is received.