Patent ID: 8527674

Claim:
A method for switching data packets between a first, second and third port comprising: receiving data packets at the first port; determining whether one or both of a destination address and a VLAN ID associated with the data packet matches an entry of a MAC address list and/or an entry in a VLAN table; in a first operation mode, transferring to the third port each data packet comprising a destination address matching one address of the MAC address list; transferring to the second port each data packet comprising a destination address not matching an address of the MAC address list; in a second operation mode, transferring to the third port each data packet comprising a VLAN ID matching an entry in the VLAN table associated with the third port and comprising a destination address matching one address of the MAC address list; transferring to the second port each data packet comprising a VLAN ID matching an entry in the VLAN table associated with the second port and comprising a destination address not matching an address of the MAC address list; discarding each data packet assigned to a VLAN ID not matching an entry in the VLAN table; and discarding each data packet assigned to a VLAN ID not matching an entry in the VLAN table associated with the second port and comprising a destination address not matching an entry in the MAC address list.