The system defines a dedicated virtual link (DVL) for a specified packet flow. The router receives a datalink frame having a Media Access Control (MAC) address field. An identifier of the DVL allocated between the router and a previous-hop node is written in the frame using the MAC address field. The router refers to a correspondence relationship between the identifier of the DVL and information for designating a next-hop node, based on the identifier of the DVL included in the received frame, and transfers the frame to the next-hop node without network-layer processing.