Patent ID: 8352391

Claim:
A method performed by a network device, the method comprising: receiving a rule modification for a filter, the filter including an existing rule and a particular number of prioritized fields; determining that at least one of the prioritized fields does not include a value; normalizing the rule modification to include a dummy value for each of the at least one of the prioritized fields that does not include a value; determining that at least one of the particular number of prioritized fields includes a range of values; resolving the range of values by converting the range of values to a plurality of different values to create a plurality of rules associated with the received rule modification, each of the plurality of rules including the particular number of prioritized fields, the particular number of prioritized fields each including a same value except for the at least one of the particular number of prioritized fields that includes the range of values, each of the at least one of the particular number of prioritized fields that includes the range of values including a different value, and each of the different values being associated with a value of the range of values; performing a check for conflicts between the plurality of rules and the existing rule in the filter; establishing one or more backtracking links to integrate the plurality of rules with the existing rule; and adding the plurality of rules to the filter.