Patent ID: 6839350

Claim:
A node apparatus comprising: a first memory containing a plurality of entries each defining routing information corresponding to a packet destination address; a second memory containing a plurality of entries each defining a header processing rule corresponding to each combination of a source address and a destination address of an IP packet; and a controller for converting a received packet into an encapsulated outgoing packet according to a header processing rule defined in said second memory and for delivering the outgoing packet to an output port according to routing information defined in said first, wherein each of said entries in said second memory defines a header processing rule corresponding to a combination of source and destination addresses contained in a header of an IP packet, said header processing rule indicating a source and destination address decision rule or an address value for tunneling communication, and wherein, said controller refers to said second memory according to a source address and a destination address of a received IP packet or an IP packet obtained by decapsulating a packet received in an encapsulated form, and said converting of the received packet into the encapsulated outgoing packet.