Patent ID: 7457294

Claim:
A circuit for forwarding data packets in a network, comprising: a data storage comprising T data sub-storages for storing all network addresses which are coded by a particular coding method on the basis of their respective key bit length in precisely one of said data sub-storages; the t-th data sub-storage of said data sub-storages being divided into blocks having D data elements of identical data element bit length; where tε[1, . . . , T] and D is the smallest common multiple of tε[1, . . . , T]; and a control device receiving said data packets, each having a destination address; said control device coding the destination address of a received data packet of said data packets using said particular coding method to produce a coded key and comparing said coded key on the basis of its key bit length with said coded addresses stored in a corresponding data sub-store of said data sub-storages block by block to forward said received data packet via an output to said destination address whose associated coded address matches said coded key from said received data packet.