Patent ID: 7236492
Filing Date: 2007-06-26
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for packet processing comprising, a) obtaining first information regarding a packet; b) using the first information as an index into a parser memory; c) retrieving from the parser memory an entry comprising a location in the packet of one or more protocol bits specifying a protocol associated with the packet; d) obtaining a match engine index; and, e) using the protocol bits and the match engine index as a key to retrieve a match engine entry from a match engine memory, the match engine entry comprising an action to take on the packet wherein the parser memory entry comprises a context memory base address and either a location in the packet of a set of label bits or an indication that there are no label bits, wherein, if the parser memory entry includes a location of a set of label bits, the method comprises retrieving from the packet the label bits, and obtaining the match engine index comprises using the context memory base address and label bits to retrieve from a context memory an entry comprising the match engine index.