System and method for determining a destination for an internet protocol packet

1. A method for determining a destination for an Internet protocol packet, comprising the steps of:

searching a memory for a destination Internet protocol address associated with said Internet protocol packet, the memory organized into a series of rows, each row including one destination Internet protocol address column, one weight value column, and one destination media access control address column, wherein at least one of said rows comprises a destination Internet protocol address having at least one universal bit, wherein universal bits are bits that accept any value, use of said universal bits ensuring that said step of searching said memory for said destination Internet protocol address associated with said Internet protocol packet results in said memory always having said destination Internet protocol address therein;

utilizing said weight factor to select, from the series, a row matching the destination Internet protocol address;

reading a destination media access control address column from the selected row;

discarding said Internet protocol packet if a value of said destination media access control address is zero; and

adding said destination media access control address to said Internet protocol packet as said destination of said packet, if said media access control address is not equal to zero.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said memory is a content addressable memory.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said weight factor is utilized to select said row when more than one destination Internet protocol address is similar.

4. A method for determining a destination for an Internet protocol packet, comprising the steps of:

searching a memory for a destination Internet protocol address associated with said Internet protocol packet, the memory organized into a series of rows, each row including one destination Internet protocol address column, one weight value column, and one destination media access control address column, wherein an invalid destination media access control address is provided within a row to designate that said destination for said Internet protocol packet is a local area network destination device;

utilizing said weight factor to select, from the series, a row matching the destination Internet protocol address;

reading a destination media access control address column from the selected row;

transmitting an address search request to said local area network destination device to determine if said local area network destination device is the destination of said Internet protocol packet; and

replacing said invalid media access control address with an address of said local area network destination device if said local area network destination device is the destination of said Internet protocol packet.

5. The method of claim 4 , further adding said media access control address to a layer two header of said Internet protocol packet.

6. A system for determining a destination for an Internet protocol packet, comprising:

a memory organized into a series of rows, each row including one destination Internet protocol address column, one weight value column, and one destination media access control address column, wherein at least one of said rows comprises a destination Internet protocol address having at least one universal bit, wherein universal bits are bits that accept any value, use of said universal bits ensuring that said step of searching said memory for said destination Internet protocol address associated with said Internet protocol packet results in said memory always having said destination Internet protocol address therein; and

a processor, wherein said processor performs the steps of searching said memory for a destination Internet protocol address associated with said Internet protocol packet, utilizing said weight factor to select a row from the series, reading the destination media access control address column from the selected row, discarding said Internet protocol packet if a value of said destination media access control address is zero, and adding said destination media access control address to said Internet protocol racket as said destination of said racket, if said media access control address is not equal to zero.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein said weight factor is utilized to select said row when more than one destination Internet protocol address is similar.

8. A system for determining a destination for an Internet protocol packet, comprising:

a memory organized into a series of rows, each row including one destination Internet protocol address column, one weight value column, and one destination media access control address column, wherein an invalid destination media access control address is provided within a row to designate that said destination for said Internet protocol packet is a local area network destination device; and

a processor, wherein said processor performs the steps of searching said memory for a destination Internet protocol address associated with said Internet protocol packet, utilizing said weight factor to select a row from the series, reading the destination media access control address column from the selected row, transmitting an address search request to said local area network destination device to determine if said local area network destination device is the destination of said Internet protocol packet, and replacing said invalid media access control address with an address of said local area network destination device if said local area network destination device is the destination of said Internet protocol packet.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein said memory is a content addressable memory.

10. A system for determining a destination for an Internet protocol packet, comprising:

means for searching a memory for a destination Internet protocol address associated with said Internet protocol packet, the memory organized into a series of rows, each row including one destination Internet protocol address column, one weight value column, and one destination media access control address column, wherein at least one of said rows comprises a destination Internet protocol address having at least one universal bit, wherein universal bits are bits that accept any value, use of said universal bits ensuring that said means for searching said memory for said destination Internet protocol address associated with said Internet protocol packet always finding said destination Internet protocol address within said memory;

means for utilizing said weight factor to select a row from the series;

means for reading the destination media access control address column from the selected row;

means for discarding said Internet protocol packet if a value of said destination media access control address is zero; and

means for adding said destination media access control address to said Internet protocol packet as said destination of said packet, if said media access control address is not equal to zero.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said memory is a content addressable memory.

12. A system for determining a destination for an Internet protocol packet, comprising:

means for searching a memory for a destination Internet protocol address associated with said Internet protocol packet, the memory organized into a series of rows, each row including one destination Internet protocol address column, one weight value column, and one destination media access control address column, wherein an invalid destination media access control address is provided with a row to designate that said destination for said Internet protocol packet is a local area network destination device;

means for utilizing said weight factor to select a row from the series;

means for reading the destination media access control address column from the selected row;

means for transmitting an address search request to said local area network destination device to determine if said local area network destination device is the destination of said Internet protocol packet; and

means for replacing said invalid media access control address with an address of said local area network destination device if said local area network destination device is the destination of said Internet protocol packet.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein said weight factor is utilized to select said row when more than one destination Internet protocol address is similar.