Patent ID: 7313135

Claim:
A method for forwarding received data for a logical link, the method implemented in a switch device in a multistage switch, the multistage switch comprising a matrix of switch devices connected to each other through internal output ports, the logical link comprising a plurality of physical links and coupling the multistage switch to a destination through a plurality of output ports connected to the multistage switch, the method comprising the steps of: upon determining at a switch device to forward the received data to one of the physical links of the logical link, selecting a trunk table associated with the logical link from a plurality of trunk tables, each trunk table including trunk table entries, each trunk table entry including a bit for each internal output port of the forwarding switch device; computing a forward vector, using the forwarding switch device, for the received data dependent on a selected trunk table entry for the received data, the forward vector indicating the internal output port through which to forward the received data; and forwarding the received data to the internal output port indicated by the forward vector.