Patent ID: 7046679

Claim:
A network switch for network communications, said network switch comprising: a first data port interface, said first data port interface supporting at least one data port transmitting and receiving data at a first data rate; a second data port interface, said second data port interface supporting at least one data port transmitting and receiving data at a second data rate; a CPU interface, said CPU interface configured to communicate with a CPU; a memory management unit for communicating data from at least one of said first data port interface and said second data port interface and a memory; a communication channel, said communication channel for communicating data and messaging information between said first data port interface, said second data port interface, and said memory management unit; a plurality of lookup tables, said lookup tables including an address resolution lookup table and a VLAN table, wherein one of said first data port interface and said second data port interface is configured to determine an egress port or egress ports, for an incoming data packet received by said one of said first data port interface and said second data port interface, from a search of said address resolution lookup table and said VLAN table using a VLAN ID derived from the incoming data packet, and said configuration to determine the egress port or the egress ports comprises obtaining a class of service.