Apparatus and method for packet switching with supertrunking

摘要

The packet routing system disclosed allows for efficient transfers of IP streams from router to router with use of supertrunking. The router (102) that receives (502) an IP stream (220) set for transmission on a supertrunk (112), individually inputs the IP packets, determines (504) the logical output port corresponding to the IP stream, assigns each IP packet to a physical output port within the logical output port with use of a load balancing function, encapsulates each IP packet within a supertrunk header (506) comprising an IP stream identifier and a packet sequence identifier and an IP header that has identical source and destination addresses as the original IP packet, and forwards (510) the encapsulated packets to the receiving router via a plurality of physical links. The router (104) that receives the encapsulated IP packets then re-orders the packets into the proper order with use of a sorting algorithm, removes the IP and supertrunk headers, and outputs an IP stream similar to that input to the original router.