Patent ID: 7965715

Claim:
A relay device for relaying packets, comprising: a plurality of ports configured to connect to lines, the plurality of ports including J (the number J is an integer at least 1) target ports utilized for forwarding according to priority; a priority determination module that determines the priority for each of a plurality of received packets received by the target ports, from among K (the number K is an integer at least 2) priority levels including a first priority and a second priority; N (the number N is an integer at least 2) packet processors that control forwarding of the received packet among the ports; and a distributor that selects a handling packet processor to control forwarding of the received packet from among the N packet processors for each of the received packets, wherein the N packet processors are grouped into P (the number P is an integer at least 2) groups including a first group and a second group; and the relay device is configured to select a power mode of the relay device from among a plurality of power modes including a first power mode and a second power mode, wherein in the first power mode: each packet processor of the second group maintains own operating mode in a first operating mode of relatively low power consumption; and the distributor selects the handling packet processor from the first group for the first priority, and selects the handling packet processor from at least one group excluding the second group for the second priority, wherein in the second power mode: each packet processor of the second group maintains the own operating mode in a second operating mode of relatively high power consumption; and the distributor selects the handling packet processor from the first group for the first priority, and selects the handling packet processor from at least one group including the second group for the second priority.