Abstract: The present invention relates to a packet switch and a packet switching method. An example embodiment of the present invention comprises at least three network ports, at least one instrument port, a mux-switch, a packet switch fabric, and an address table. The embodiment updates the address table to include the source address of each ingress packet of each network port and associate the source address with that network port. The mux-switch routes the ingress packet traffic of each network port according to the identity of the network port so that at least a copy of the packet traffic of one of the network ports is routed to an instrument port. The packet switch fabric routes the packets from the instrument ports to the network ports according the destination address of the packet and the identity of the network port that is associated with the destination address as recorded in the address table.

Abstract: A packet switch appliance includes a plurality of ports. One of the plurality of ports is configured to operate as a network port connected to a packet-switching network. Another of the plurality of ports is configured to operate as a first instrument port connected to a network instrument. To filter packets, one or more packets or copies of packets received through the first network port are examined prior to the packets or copies of packets being sent out the first instrument port to determine a current state of a state-based protocol, which includes a plurality of potential states. A filter is created or modified for the first network port or the first instrument port based on the determined current state of the state-based protocol.