Patent ID: 7876757

Claim:
A method in a router for assisting network packet processing, said method comprising: in response to a receipt of a data packet at said router, the router determining by reference to a routing table at the router if a destination host for said data packet is directly connected to said router or if said destination host is connected to said router via one or more other routers; in response to a determination that said destination host for said data packet is directly connected to said router, the router setting an identifier field within a header of said data packet to a first value, wherein said identifier field is a Time To Live field read by said destination host to determine whether it is a destination for said data packet such that a process for determining if said data packet is addressed to said destination host is bypassed; and in response to a determination that said destination host for said data packet is connected to said router via one or more other routers, the router decrementing said identifier field within said header of said data packet to a second value different than said first value.