Patent ID: 7796541

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving a key value associated with a portion of a data packet; comparing the key value with a first range extreme associated with a first range to identify a first result, the first range extreme being associated with a plurality of range extrema and a range extreme type, the first range extreme and the range extreme type of the first range extreme being stored at a first portion of a memory, the range extreme type of the first range extreme being a first value when the first range extreme is a high extreme and a second value when the first range extreme is a low extreme; selecting a second range extreme from the plurality of range extrema based on the first result and the range extreme type of the first range extreme, the second range extreme being associated with a second range and a range extreme type, the second range extreme and the range extreme type of the second range extreme being stored at a second portion of the memory, the range extreme type of the second range extreme being the first value when the second range extreme is a high extreme and the second value when the second range extreme is a low extreme; comparing the key value with the second range extreme to identify a second result; and producing a policy vector associated with one of the first range based on the second result and the range extreme type of the second range extreme or the second range based on the second result and the range extreme type of the second range extreme.