Patent ID: 8477773
Filing Date: 2013-07-02
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for performing specific data forwarding actions depending on nature of data traffic comprising data packets, the method comprising the steps of: receiving incoming data traffic of a specific nature, belonging to at least a specific class among a number of pre-defined classes, classifying the incoming data traffic by determining the nature of the incoming data traffic, provided by a process of inspecting values of one or more selected header field(s) of an address space of a data packet, and selecting a first matching class from an ordered list of the pre-defined classes providing multi-dimensional classification by means of compression, wherein a single field classifier is provided in an extended ternary content addressable memory (ETCAM) for each dimension to compress the address space from each dimension and at least some cells of the ETCAM include boundaries of one interval for multi-dimensional classification of the incoming data traffic.