A network switch for network communications includes at least one data port interface
supporting a plurality of data ports transmitting and receiving data. A CPU interface
is configured to communicate with a CPU, and an internal memory communicates with
the at least one data port interface. A memory management unit is provided for
communicating data from at least one data port interface and the memory. A communication
channel is provided, for communicating data and messaging information between the
at least one data port interface, the memory, and the memory management unit. The
configuration of the network switch also includes a fast filtering process, with
the fast filtering processor filtering packets coming into the at least one data
port interface. Selective filter action is taken based upon a filtering result.