Patent ID: 7916738

Claim:
A method for creating a dynamic address table for a multi-port switching node in a data network for a plurality of data messages each having a target address, comprising the steps of: receiving a first data message with a source address at a first of multiple ports of the switching node; and entering data in a line of the address table that is assigned to the source address as a target address, the data comprising: (1) the source address, (2) port details, and, (3) an initial value assigned to a counter value, wherein the counter value is adjustable toward a predetermined value based on receipt of one or more data messages having the source address of the first data message as the target address, wherein the predetermined value is determinative as to whether the source address is no longer valid as the target address such that a current counter value indicates whether an entry is valid, and the current counter value is adjusted to the initial value if the entry is no longer valid.