Patent ID: 8526436

Claim:
An address search method comprising: preparing a first search table in which an entry including an index value and a destination address is registered and a second search table in which a combination of header information and a destination address is registered; inputting a combination of header information and a destination address to be registered; calculating an index value by one-way function calculation using the input header information; registering, when the calculated index value is different from the index value of an existing entry in the first search table, the calculated index value and the input destination address in the first search table as a new entry; registering, when the calculated index value is the same as the index value of the existing entry, a combination of the header information and the destination address represented by the existing entry together with a combination of the input header information and the destination address in the second search table and deleting the destination address of the existing entry; and searching, upon reception of a packet to be transferred, the first and the second search tables in parallel for the destination address of the packet by using the header information of the packet, wherein the destination address of the packet is searched from the first search table by using, as a key, an index value calculated by using the header information of the packet and is searched from the second search table by using the header information of the packet.