Patent ID: 7054315

Claim:
A method of increasing the efficiency of a process for finding a match between a target bit pattern and at least one of a plurality of candidate bit patterns, the method comprising: a) dividing said candidate bit patterns into specific groups such that for every group, members of that group have bit agreement with every other member in said group; b) applying said process only to groups whose members have bit agreement with said target bit pattern; and wherein said dividing is accomplished by: a1) defining a working bit position; a2) grouping said candidate bit patterns based on bit values at said bit position such that for every group all members in that group have the same bit value at said bit position; a3) defining a new working bit position; a4) applying step a1)–a3) to every group such that members of resulting subgroups have bit agreement at all bit positions up to the new working bit position; and a5) applying steps a2)–a4) to all resulting subgroups such that final resulting subgroups have bit agreement at all bit positions, wherein each new working bit position is subsequent to its preceding working bit position.