A base address matching device and method are disclosed. In a switching device having a plurality of input/output ports, a routing device has been described that has an array of registers in which each register holds content associating an address with one of the input/output ports in the switching device and elements of the content in the array of registers are pre-sorted into a specified order, and an address matching element that has a plurality of comparators that are electrically coupled to selected registers in the array of registers. The base address matching element is able to select a matching address from the content of the array of registers and to direct a communication packet to one of the ports in the switch by matching the target address in the packet to an address in the content of the register in the array of registers associated with the port.