Abstract: A programmable, distributed network routing system and method uses routing tables which are distributed throughout the network. Routing tables are programmed to route packets to the target device by the preferred route. When a packet is injected into the network for delivery to a particular node each router along the path taken by the packet consults its local routing table and sends the packet along the preferred route. In one implementation the router tables contained in each router contain hierarchical information about the network. For nodes that are near the subject router, a complete local table entry exists. For nodes which are more distant, several of these distant nodes share a single remote table entry. When a router receives a packet, it reads the egress port ID from the packet header and begins arbitrating for that egress port so that the packet can be sent to the next router. At the same time, the router accesses the router table to determine the egress port ID for the next router.