Patent ID: 6341130
Filing Date: 2002-01-22
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
Apparatus for associating at least one filter rule with a packet, each filter rule and the packet characterized by values in first and second dimensions, the filter rule to be applied to the packet by a router in a communications network, the apparatus comprising:a storage medium adapted to store a filter-rule table, each entry of the filter-rule table corresponding to a prefix value having a length in the first dimension and at least one interval in the second dimension; and a classification processor comprising: a comparator adapted to identify each prefix value matching the value of the packet in the first dimension, and a filter processor adapted to retrieve, from the filter-rule table, each interval associated with each prefix value identified by the comparator containing the value of the packet in the second dimension, wherein the filter processor identifies as a solution interval the interval associated with the prefix length characterized by an associated predetermined metric and containing the second field, and wherein the classification processor associates the filter rule corresponding to the solution interval with the packet.