Furthermore, within the all-FW entry table 721, the FWC 7 searches for an entry to compete with the corresponding discarding entry #2, for example, an entry for permitting transfer of a packet corresponding to all or part of the corresponding discarding entry #2. If, in the relevant search, a competing entry is hit, the FWC 7 exemplarily adds the relevant entry to the entry candidate list B in order to generate an entry list for resolving or avoiding the competition (processing operation P55 in 
In the example of 
The FWC 7 compares the number of entries of the entry candidate list A with the number of entries of the entry candidate list B, thereby performing size determination (processing operation P56 in 
If the number of entries of the entry candidate list A is smaller than the number of entries of the entry candidate list B (processing operation P56 in