Associating mac addresses with addresses in a look-up table

A method of associating look-up table addresses with media access control (MAC) addresses, the method comprising:

• receiving a MAC address;
• generating a first look-up table address based upon the MAC address, the first look-up address being generated using an algorithm;
• determining whether the first look-up table address is occupied;
• and
• if the first look-up table address is occupied, generating a second look-up table address by forming a string having the same number of bits as the MAC address and applying the algorithm to the string.

The method of extracting information related to a media access control (MAC) address, the method comprising:

• receiving a MAC address;
• generating a first look-up table address by applying an algorithm to the MAC address;
• determining whether the first look-up table address is associated with the MAC address;
• if the first look-up table address is associated with the MAC address, extracting information related to the MAC address from a look-up table using the first look-up table address;
• if the first look-up table address is not associated with the MAC address, generating a second look-up table address by forming a string having the same number of bits as the MAC address and applying the algorithm to the string;
• determining whether the second look-up table address is associated with the MAC address;
• and
• if the second look-up table address is associated with the MAC address, extracting information related to the MAC address from the look-up table using the second look-up table address.