Abstract: The packet forwarding device and method of the invention assign a virtual port number to each peripheral interface. The device and method can recognize and process the packets coming from or transferred to the virtual port according to the packet direct forward function of the forward device. Thus, the device and method can process the packets that are inputted to or outputted from the peripheral interface and the network device connected to the peripheral interface in a manner similar to the typical method for processing the packets that are only inputted to or outputted from the physical port.

Abstract: A switch controller controlled by a Link layer protocol is provided. The controller does not occupy any IP address, and is capable of parsing control frames based on the Link layer protocol. The controller comprises: a reception unit for receiving a packet; a parsing unit for parsing a control frame in the packet and for generating a control signal based on the control frame; a packet buffer for storing the packet; a protocol-processing unit for modifying the control frame based on the control signal; and a transmission unit for transmitting the packet after being processed by the protocol-processing unit.