Address modification within a switching device in a packet-switched network

摘要

A multiport switching device includes an Internal Rules Checker (IRC) that determines forwarding addresses for packets received at the device. The determined forwarding addresses may include a new MAC destination address that is to substituted for the MAC destination address of the received packet. In one implementation, the new MAC destination address is transmitted from the IRC to the dequeuing logic by transmitting pairs of adjacent words through the switch output queues. In other implementations, the new MAC destination address is transmitted from the IRC to the dequeuing logic by transmitting an index field to the output queuing logic or by having the IRC write the new MAC destination address directly to memory.