Patent ID: 7639604

Claim:
A packet routing apparatus which has a plurality of communication ports for performing transmission/reception of a packet, comprising: a plurality of relay processing sections each being connected to at least one communication port of the plurality of communication ports; a configuration information storage section which stores therein information indicating whether each of the plurality of relay processing sections is a working relay processing section or a protection relay processing section corresponding to one of working relay processing sections; a packet switch section which is connected to each of the plurality of relay processing sections, receives a packet from one of the relay processing sections, and transfers the packet to another relay processing section according to destination information included in the packet; and a transfer destination information storage section which stores the destination information included in the packet and information indicating one specific relay processing section to which the packet is to be transferred, wherein, when a first relay processing section of the plurality of relay processing sections receives a packet from a communication port, the first relay processing section refers to the transfer destination storage section based on destination information included in the packet, and identifies one specific second relay processing section to which the packet is to be transferred, and wherein the packet switch section refers to the configuration information storage section, and when the one second relay processing section identified by the first relay processing section is a working relay processing section, the packet switch section transfers the packet to the second relay processing section and a third relay processing section as a protection relay processing section corresponding to the second relay processing section.