Patent ID: 8001524

Claim:
A method, comprising: using software, executed by a processor, to perform a first linked list traversal process, where the first linked list traversal process includes: obtaining a key that corresponds to a pointer that points to a linked list, determining a hash of the key, and obtaining the pointer based on the hash of the key; and issuing, using software executed by the processor and to a hardware-implemented linked list traversal engine, a single linked list instruction that includes the pointer and the key, where the single linked list instruction is to cause the hardware-implemented linked list traversal engine to perform a recursive linked list traversal process including: locating a first data block of the linked list, comparing the key with a first portion of the first data block to identify a match with the key, and returning data to the processor if the first portion of the first data block matches the key, where the data comprises a second portion of the first data block.