Longest Prefix Match

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Internet routers can have many links. They have many options for which direction to
forward a received packet. To select which link to forward a packet over, routers today
typically use an algorithm called Longest Prefix Match.
 Inside the Stream

IP address: 171.67.76.157 IP address: 128.148.252.129

TCP port: 23946 TCP port: 80

Client Server
Routers

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In this example a client wants to open a TCP connection to a server on port

80, the typical port for web servers. The packets to set up the connection and
transfer data take many hops between the client and server. On each hop of
each packet, a router decides which link to forward the packet over.
 Inside Each Hop

⑥ ①
dest link
default 1
171.33.x.x 5
⑤ ② 23.x.x.x 2
28.33.5.x 4
171.32.x.x 2
67.x.x.x 6
④ ③ 216.x.x.x 1

address: 216.239.47.186

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How does a router make this decision? It does so through something called a
forwarding table, shown here on the right. A forwarding table consists of a
set of partial IP addresses. The x’s show that the addresses are partial. The
x’s represent wildcards. For example, the second entry, reading 171.33.x.x
means “any IP address whose first byte is 171 and whose second byte is 33.”
This particular entry, for example, includes 171.33.5.245 as well as
171.33.1.1.

When a packet arrives, the router checks which forwarding table entry best
matches the packet and forwards the packet along the link associated with
that forwarding table entry. By “best”, I mean most specific. The default route
is effectively all wildcards -- it matches every IP address. If, when a packet
arrives, there isn’t a more specific route than the default route, the router will
just use the default one.
 Longest Prefix Match

• Algorithm IP routers use to chose matching entry from forwarding table

dest link
• Forwarding table is a set of CIDR entries 0.0.0.0/0 1
▶ An address might match multiple entries
171.33.0.0/16 5
▶ E.g., 171.33.0.1 matches both entries on right
• Algorithm: use forwarding entry with the longest matching prefix
▶ Longest prefix match will chose link 5 for 171.33.0.1

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Longest prefix match, or LPM, is the algorithm IP routers use to

decide how to forward a packet. Every router has a forwarding
table. Entries in this forwarding table have two parts: a CIDR
entry describing a block of addresses, and a next hop for
packets that match that CIDR entry. An address might belong to
multiple CIDR entries.

For example, in this routing table on the right, there are two
entries, one for the default route, which has a prefix of length
0, and one for 171.33.0.0/16. By default, all packets will go
over link 1. However, if the first 16 bits, two octets, of a packet
destination address matches 171.33, the router will send it over
link 5. This is because a 16 bit prefix is a longer prefix than 0
bits, it’s more specific.
 Inside Each Hop
dest link
default 1
171.33.x.x 5
⑥ ① 23.x.x.x 2
28.33.5.x 4
171.32.x.x 2
67.x.x.x 6
216.x.x.x 1
⑤ ②

④ ③

address: 216.239.47.186

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So let’s go back to our earlier example, where we showed a forwarding table

with Xs denoting wildcards. Here’s the router and its forwarding table.
 Inside Each Hop (for real)
dest link
default 1
171.33.x.x 5
⑥ ① 23.x.x.x 2
28.33.5.x 4
171.32.x.x 2
67.x.x.x 6
216.x.x.x 1
⑤ ②
dest link
0.0.0.0/0 1
④ ③ 171.33.0.0/16 5
23.0.0.0/8 2
28.33.5.0/24 4
address: 216.239.47.186
171.32.0.0/16 2
67.0.0.0/8 6
216.0.0.0/8 1
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If we represent this forwarding table as CIDR entries, this is what it looks like.
Since in this simple example all of the prefixes are in terms of bytes, all of the
prefixes have length 0, 8, 16, or 24 bits.
 Quiz
With the forwarding table on the right, over which link will a router using longest
prefix match send packets with the following IP destination address?

A. 63.19.5.3 dest link

0.0.0.0/0 1
B. 171.15.15.0 18.0.0.0/8 5
171.0.0.0/8 2
C. 63.19.5.32 171.0.0.0/10 4
171.0.15.0/24 1
D. 44.199.230.1 55.128.0.0/10 6
63.19.5.0/30 3
E. 171.128.16.0

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With the forwarding table on the right, over which link will a router using longest prefix match send
packets with the following IP destination address?

The answer for A, 63.19.5.3, is link 3. 63.19.5.3 matches two prefixes: the default route and prefix
63.19.5.0/30. The prefix is 30 bits long and 63.19.5.3 differs in only the last two bits. /30 is a longer prefix
than /0 so the router will pick link 3.

The answer for B,171.15.15.0, is link 4. 171.15.15.0 matches three entries. It matches the default route,
171.0.0.0/8 and 171.0.0.0/10. It does not match 171.0.15.0/24 because B’s second octet is 15, not 0. The
third match, 171.0.0.0/10, is the longest prefix, so the router sends the packet along link 4.

The answer for C, 63.19.5.32, is link 1. The longest prefix match is the default route. It does not match
63.19.5.0/30 because it differs in the 26th bit.

The answer for D, 44.199.230.1, is link 1. The longest prefix match is the default route.

The answer for E, 171.128.16.0, is link 2. This address matches two prefixes, the default route and 171.0.0.0/8.
It does not match 171.0.0.0/10 because it differs on the 9th bit. 171.0.0.0/8 is the longest prefix, so the router
will forward the packet on link 2.