Patent ID: 7406037

Claim:
A packet forwarding apparatus provided with a function to communicate routing control information with another node apparatus on a communication network according to a specific routing protocol, said packet forwarding apparatus comprising: a plurality of interface modules, each of which is connected to input and output lines of the communication network; at least two routing modules capable of switching their operation modes between active and standby modes, one of which operates as an active routing module, while the remaining operating as standby; and an internal switching unit for exchanging packets among said interface modules and said routing modules, wherein each of said interface modules has means for forwarding a routing control packet received from the communication network to both said active and standby routing modules, said routing module operating as standby has means for executing routing control information processing in accordance with said routing protocol in response to receiving said routing control packet, and means for sending an internal control packet including identification information of said routing control packet to said active routing module, and said routing module operating as the active has means for executing routing control information processing in accordance with said routing protocol in response to receiving said routing control packet and transmitting a response packet to a sender of the routing control packet, and means for determining a state of said standby routing module depending on whether the internal control packet has been received and its contents.