Patent ID: 7313142

Claim:
A packet processing device comprising: a search engine module including an associative memory for transferring a packet on the basis of an entry mapping to route information; a first processor taking charge of a pre-search process before a process of the packet to said search engine module; and a second processor taking charge of a post-search process for executing a process of routing the packet on the basis of a search result of said search engine module; a table used for transferring and receiving information between said first processor in charge of the pre-search process and said second processor in charge of the post-search processor; wherein the pre-search process executed by said first processor includes a process for writing a search key extracted from the packet and identifying information into a specified field of said table, and a process for transferring the search key and the identifying information to said search engine module; the identifying information is transferred through said search engine module as a transparent medium; and the post-search process executed by said second processor includes based on the identifying information transparently passed through said search engine module, a process for acquiring storage information in the pre-search process from the specified field of said table, thereby carrying out a routing process of the packet in a way that takes into account information on a search result given from the search engine module.