Patent ID: 6993033

Claim:
A network device configured to control communication of data frames between stations, comprising: a plurality of receive ports configured to receive data frames from the stations; a memory configured to store address information and data forwarding information associated with the received data frames, the address information and data forwarding information being stored as a plurality of entries in a first address table; a timer configured to transmit a signal at a predetermined interval of time, the predetermined interval of time defining an aging cycle associated with the first address table; an aging device configured to receive the signal from the timer and initiate an aging process on the first address table; and interrupt logic configured to receive the signal from the timer and transmit an interrupt signal to an external device associated with managing the operation of the network device, the interrupt signal indicating that the aging process on the first address table has been initiated, and wherein the external device stores a second address table corresponding to the first address table stored in the memory of the network device, each entry in the second address table including an address hit field and an aging override field, and wherein the interrupt signal causes the external device to determine whether to at least one of delete or invalidate an entry in the second address table based on information in the address hit field and the aging override field of the second address table.