Patent ID: 8537667

Claim:
A packet transfer device for transferring packets between a plurality of private networks and a global network, the packet transfer device comprising: first means for allocating a global address to a plurality of private addresses of the plurality of private networks, converting address information and a port number included in a header of a received packet, and transferring the received packet to a destination having the converted address information and port number; and second means, including a section management table in which a number of available sessions between a user terminal in the plurality of private networks and a device in the global network is set for each of a plurality of groups including one or more private addresses, for managing the number of current sessions between the user terminal and the device in the global network, wherein the second means accepts sessions between user terminals in the respective groups and the device in the global network if the total number of current sessions of a parent group of the plurality of groups is not greater than a predetermined number even when the number of current sessions of each group is greater than the number of available sessions for the respective group.