Patent ID: 6839351

Claim:
A multiport network device, comprising: a receive port configured to receive data frames from a network, each of the data frames having header information that includes at least a source field indicating the source of the frame and a destination field indicating an intended destination for the data frame; transmit ports configured to transmit the data frames to the network; internal rules checking logic coupled to a first output of the receive port, the internal rules checking logic receiving the header information relating to the data frames received by the receive port and, based on the header information, generating a port vector that identifies the transmit ports for a particular one of the data frames, the internal rules checking logic forwarding at least the port vector and priority information of the data frame to the transmit ports when it receives an end-of-frame signal corresponding to the data frame; and a port filter coupled to a second output of the receive port, the port filter receiving the header information relating to the data frames received by the receive port and, based on the header information, determining the priority information for the data frame, the port filter transmitting the determined priority information to the internal rules checking logic and subsequently transmitting the end-of-frame signal to the internal rules checking logic.