1. A packet switching device with a plurality of input and output ports and at least one switching unit ( 3 to 5 ) comprising a coupling matrix and an arbiter unit ( 9 ) for controlling the coupling matrix ( 8 ), wherein the arbiter unit is designed for generating a state matrix ( 11 ) whose lines each correspond to an input port and whose columns each correspond to an output port, said state matrix comprises elements which each represent a weighting for an interconnection between an input port and an output port of the packet switching device, and said arbiter unit ( 9 ) is designed for forming a first decision matrix consisting of several accepted interrelationships on the basis of an algorithm which is operative in parallel on several groups ( 12 and 14 ) of columns of the state matrix.