Patent ID: 7379456

Claim:
A network routing apparatus, comprising: a plurality of routing units each connected to at least one line, wherein each of said plurality of routing units receives a packet from a line, extracts output destination information using a packet header included in the packet received, and routes the received packet in accordance with the output destination information; and a switching unit connected to each of said plurality of routing units, wherein said switching unit receives from each of said routing units a packet and the output destination information, and in accordance with the output destination information, transfers the packet received, to any one of said plurality of routing units; each of said routing units further comprising: one or a plurality of transfer means comprising a plurality of input and output terminals, each connected to at least one line, wherein said plurality of transfer means each extracts and outputs a packet header of the packet received from each line; one or a plurality of search means comprising a plurality of input and output terminals, each connected to each of said plurality of transfer means via said plurality of input and output terminals, wherein said plurality of search means each receive the packet header from each of said plurality of transfer means, extract the output destination information by use of the packet header, and output the output destination information; and one or a plurality of switch input and output means each for receiving the received packet and the output destination information and transmitting the received packet to said switching unit or each of said plurality of transfer means in accordance with the output destination information; wherein, in each said routing unit, one or said plurality of search means are each connected to one or said plurality of transfer means; and wherein a connection configuration determines the number of input and output terminals between the transfer means and the search means; and wherein a data size transferred between the search means and the transfer means is configurable based on the connection configuration.