Three-port ethernet switch with external buffer

1 . A method for processing packets, comprising:

receiving a data frame at a first port, wherein the data frame comprises a header portion and payload portion;

analyzing the header portion to determine a destination port for the data frame;

adding a destination status to the header portion to create a modified header portion;

storing the modified header portion in an on-chip memory; and

storing the payload portion in an off-chip memory.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

analyzing the modified header portion by an on-chip CPU; and

instructing a DMA controller where to route the data frame.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

routing, by the DMA controller, the header portion and the payload portion to the destination port.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the header portion is analyzed by on-chip hardware to determine the destination port.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the hardware is a MAC table.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the hardware is a VLAN table.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adding an error status to the payload portion that is stored in the off-chip memory.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the on-chip memory is SRAM and the off-chip memory is SDRAM.

9 . A system for routing packets, comprising:

a first Ethernet MAC coupled to a local area network (LAN) port;

a second Ethernet MAC coupled to a personal computer (PC) port;

a hardware MAC table coupled to both the first and second Ethernet MACs; and

a DMA controller coupled to the first and second Ethernet MACs and to an SRAM memory,

wherein the first and second Ethernet MACs, the MAC table, the DMA controller and the SRAM memory are all located on a single chip, and wherein the DMA controller is also coupled to an off-chip SDRAM memory.

10 . The system of claim 9 , further comprising:

a CPU located on the chip and coupled to the DMA controller and the SRAM memory.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the MAC table is used to determine a destination for data packets received by the first and second Ethernet MACs.

12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the DMA controller operates to store packet header data to the SRAM memory and to store packet payload data to the SDRAM memory.

13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the CPU instructs the DMA controller how to route packets that are received by the first Ethernet MAC and the second Ethernet MAC.

14 . The system of claim 9 , further comprising:

a VLAN table coupled to both the first and second Ethernet MACs, wherein the VLAN table is constructed on the chip.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the VLAN table is used in conjunction with the MAC table to determine a destination for data packets received by the first and second Ethernet MACs.

16 . A method of operating a DMA controller constructed on a chip, comprising:

receiving data packets from an Ethernet MAC;

storing a header portion of the data packets to a first memory, wherein the first memory is constructed on the chip with the DMA controller; and

storing a payload portion of the data packets to a second memory, wherein the second memory is separate from the chip containing the DMA controller and the first memory.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

notifying a CPU when a header portion is stored to the first memory, wherein the CPU is constructed on the chip.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

receiving routing instructions from the CPU, wherein the routing instructions identify a port to which the header portion and the payload portion are transmitted.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the CPU creates the routing instructions based upon a destination status word in the header portion of the data packets.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the Ethernet MAC adds the destination status word to the header portion of the data packets.