Caching address information in a communications system

A terminal apparatus for transmitting packets over a communications network, comprising:

• a communication interface configured to receive a query from a local host requesting address information;
• a memory configured to store address information;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory and the communication interface, the processor being configured to determine whether the address information associated with the query is stored in the memory, and to selectively transmit the address information to the local host in response to the determination, the processor being configured to forward the query over the communications network to a server to retrieve the address information.

A system for performing an address look-up, comprising:

• a terminal configured to receive a query from a local host requesting address information, the terminal comprising,
• a memory configured to store address information, and
• a processor coupled to the memory and configured to determine whether the address information associated with the query is stored in the memory, and to selectively transmit the address information to the local host in response to the determination;
• and
• a server communicating with the terminal over a communications network, the server being configured to receive the query from the terminal and to transmit the address information corresponding to the query to the terminal.

A terminal apparatus capable of performing an address look-up, the terminal apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving a query from a local host requesting address information;
• means for determining whether the address information is stored in memory;
• means for selectively transmitting the address information to the local host based upon the determination;
• and
• means for selectively forwarding the query over a communications network to a server to retrieve the address information.

A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for performing an address look-up, the one or more sequences of one or more instructions including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

• receiving a query from a local host requesting address information;
• determining whether the address information is stored in memory;
• selectively transmitting the address information to the local host based upon the determining step;
• and
• selectively forwarding the query over a communications network to a server to retrieve the address information.

A method of performing an address look-up over a satellite network, the method comprising:

• receiving a query from a local host requesting address information;
• determining whether the address information is stored in a cache;
• transmitting the address information to the local host in response to determining that the address information is stored in the cache;
• and
• selectively forwarding the query over the satellite network to a server to retrieve the address information.