Patent ID: 8619790

Claim:
A method for processing communication information, the method comprising: performing by one or more processors, one or more circuits, or any combination thereof integrated within a network processor chip: partitioning an on-chip cache of said network processor chip into a plurality of segments, each of said segments being associated with one of a plurality of pre-defined network protocols, wherein a capacity of at least one of said segments is adjusted based upon a memory requirement for said on-chip cache; allocating an entry in a designated one of said segments for an active network connection, said designated segment being assigned in response to a protocol of said active network connection; selecting connection data associated with said active network connection from a memory external to said network processor chip; and storing at least a portion of connection data associated with a new network connection in a data cache portion of an overflow entry in said designated segment in response to an identifier associated with said new network connection being equal to an identifier associated with said active network connection.