Patent ID: 7522592

Claim:
A packet transfer unit, comprising: an input/output unit which transmits/receives a packet; a transfer unit which extracts header information from a received packet and determines a transfer destination of said packet; a transfer information memory which stores transfer information for determining the transfer destination of said packet; and a transfer information acquisition unit which acquires the transfer information of said packet from said transfer information memory, wherein said packet transfer unit further comprises: a search key memory which stores a search key for the transfer destination of said packet and parity information generated from the search key, in association with a storage location of the transfer information memorized in said transfer information memory, said transfer information acquisition unit searches said search key memory by using the search key generated based on said header information and the parity information generated from the search key, acquires storage location information of said transfer information from said search key memory when a match with said search key and said parity information stored in said search key memory is found, and acquires the transfer information memorized in said transfer information memory based on said acquired storage location information, and said transfer unit transfers the received packet based on said acquired transfer information.