Abstract: A data frame switching apparatus has number data ports and a port traffic management unit for each port. Each port traffic management unit includes a physical layer unit for receiving and transmitting data frames, a serial shift register for temporarily storing a portion of each received data frame in serial data format, and a port controller for extracting each data frame's source and destination address from the portion of the data frame stored in the serial shift register. A crossbar switch connects any specified one of the data ports that is receiving a data frame to another one of the data ports so as to transmit the received data frame to a corresponding destination.