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Abstract

A network switch configured for switching data packets across multiple switch ports uses programmable hash functions to generate a hash key for each network address to access an address table storing switching logic. The address table is configured to include a programmable number of bin entries, where each bin entry is configured to reference a plurality of address table entries storing the switching logic information for respective network addresses. The address of an incoming data packet is used to generate a hash key that references a selected one of the bin entries. The switching logic for the corresponding address is then obtained by accessing the appropriate table entry referenced by the selected bin entry. If the number of table entries for a given bin exceeds a prescribed threshold, an external host reprograms the network switch to use another hash key to maintain an efficient access throughput of the address table. Use of programmable hash keys also enables the host processor to use different hash key polynomials for different network configurations to optimize the table access throughput.

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