Patent ID: 7424016

Claim:
An apparatus for distribution of packets of network traffic across available output paths within a network, the apparatus comprising: an extraction circuit configured to extract a distribution key and a forwarding key from a header of each packet; a hash circuit configured to generate, for each packet, an N-bit hash value by applying a hash function to the distribution key, N being a positive integer; a memory configured to hold 2 N indications of the available output paths that map to the N-bit hash value, wherein the available output path indications are determined using the forwarding key and held by the memory in a randomized order; a selection circuit configured to receive the N-bit hash value and the forwarding key, and to access the memory to select an output path for each packet from among the available output path indications, wherein the selection is based on addressing the memory using each bit of the N-bit hash value for each packet; and a packet switch configured to forward each packet to an output port based on the selected output path from the selection circuit.