Patent ID: 8135013

Claim:
An Internet Protocol (IP) switch for switching an incoming IP frame to an IP destination address included in the IP frame, said IP switch comprising: multiple ports comprising a plurality of access ports and a plurality of interswitch ports, wherein each access port is identified by a port identifier and is directly connected to a corresponding host in a Local Area Network (LAN), and wherein the interswitch ports are statically connected to routers within an Internet to connect the routers together in connections that cannot be overwritten by a dynamic learning process; a switching table comprising at least one entry, wherein each entry of the at least one entry comprises an IP address, a port identifier associated with the IP address and identifying a port of the multiple ports, and a routing protocol internal metric indicative of confidence in the entry, wherein the IP switch does not comprise a Media Access Control (MAC) table that associates a MAC address of each host in the LAN with each host's associated port identifier; an IP address reader configured to read the IP destination address from the IP frame; a comparator configured to make a comparison between the IP destination address included in the IP frame with the IP address in the each entry of the at least one entry of the switching table and to determine, from said comparison, a matching IP address in the at least one entry of the switching table that matches the IP destination address included in the IP frame; a port director configured to direct the IP frame to a specific port of the multiple ports, wherein the specific port has a port identifier in a specific entry of the at least one entry of the switching table such that the specific entry comprises the matching IP address; and means for transmitting the IP frame from the specific port to the IP destination address.