US Patent 7334048 Method and apparatus for fast route table update

A method and apparatus is provided for fast route table updates. A route table entry is identified, and a subsequent route table entry is located using the identified route table entry. All subsequent route table entries are identified using the previous route table entry until all route table entries associated with a predetermined characteristic are identified. The identified entries may be purged or transferred from one route table to another. The predetermined characteristic may be that the route table entries where discovered by a common routing protocol. Route table entries associated with a common routing protocol that is inoperative for a predetermined period are purged.