Patent ID: 6850542

Claim:
A network device having a plurality of ports, said network device comprising: address resolution logic (ARL) configured to perform address resolution of data packets received at ports of said plurality of ports and to switch data packets from a first network port of said plurality of ports to a second network port of said plurality of ports; a first switch having a first group of ports which are a subset of said plurality of ports and are numbered by a first numbering scheme; a second switch having a second group of ports which are a subset of said plurality of ports and are numbered by a second numbering scheme different from said first numbering scheme; a CPU coupled to said first switch and said second switch and configured to control said first switch, said second switch, and said ARL; and wherein a first link port of said first group of ports is coupled to a second link port of said second group of ports, and said ARL is configured to perform address resolution based on said first and second numbering schemes such that when said first network port is in said first group of ports and said second network port is in said second group of ports, a data packet received at said first network port destined for said second network port is directly routed from said first network port to said second network port.