System and method for processing data packets

A method for processing a data packet to determine the routing of the data packet through a communications network, the data packet having a header portion and a data portion, the method comprising:

• storing the header portion of the data packet;
• processing the header portion of the data packet;
• said processing comprising executing instructions for processing the header portion, searching, responsive to a first value contained within said header portion, through a route table to determine a route of the data packet, searching, responsive to a second value contained within said header portion, through a table memory for information about the destination of the data packet, wherein said table memory includes an interface table storing information related to one or more interfaces and a circuit table storing information related to one or more virtual circuits, said route table search and said table memory search operating simultaneously to process said header portion and generate one of an internal header and a network media header;
• and
• generating a modified header portion containing at least some of the received header portion together with said generated one of the internal header and the network media header.

A method for processing data packets to determine the route of the data packet, the data packet having a header portion and a data portion, the method comprising:

• receiving a header portion of an incoming data packet;
• performing a flat table memory access based on a first value contained within the received header portion, wherein said flat table memory includes an interface table storing information related to one or more interfaces and a circuit table storing information related to one or more virtual circuits;
• performing a route look-up search simultaneously with said flat table memory access, said route table look-up search responsive to a second value contained within the received header portion;
• checking information contained within the header portion while said flat table memory access and said route look-up search are being performed for determining if the header portion is valid;
• generating one of an internal header and a network media header based on the results of the route look-up search and the flat table memory access;
• and
• generating a modified header portion including the received header portion and said generated one of the internal header and the network media header.