Patent ID: 7356033

Claim:
A method for processing data packets at a network node of a packet-based communications network, the method making use of one or more Ternary Content Addressable Memory, TCAM, devices which have been subdivided into a plurality of sub-tables, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a data packet having packet header information associated therewith; performing a first analysis of said packet header information to determine an identifier specifying one or more of said sub-tables of said one or more TCAM devices, wherein said one or more specified sub-tables comprise less than all of said plurality of sub-tables of said one or more TCAM devices; and performing a lookup in said one or more TCAM devices based on said identifier to retrieve categorization information associated with said packet header information, said lookup being limited to said one or more specified sub-tables of said one or more TCAM devices, wherein said step of performing a first analysis of said packet header information comprises performing a first-level lookup in a first-level TCAM device for use in said determination of said identifier, and wherein said categorization information has been derived based on a trie containing packet categorization information, wherein said trie has been partitioned into a first-level trie portion and a plurality of second-level trie portions, wherein said first-level TCAM device contains said first-level trie portion, wherein said one or more TCAM devices which have been subdivided into a plurality of sub-tables have been partitioned into a plurality of sub-table groups, each sub-table group comprising one or more of said sub-tables, and wherein each of said sub-table groups contains one of said second-level trie portions.