Patent ID: 7656887

Claim:
A network equipment comprising: a parser for executing a process for handling input packets as plural differing flows; a packet processor for implementing a processing of the packets; a cache including multiple entries for registering in each flow, a result of the processing implemented on the packets by the packet processor, to effect a registered flow; a post-processor for implementing a processing of the packets belonging to the registered flow in the cache; and a flow management queue group installed in a pre-stage of the cache, for holding packets belonging to flows corresponding to the entries of the cache; wherein a packet belonging to a first flow for which a result of the processing implemented on the packet by the packet processor is registered in the cache, is then processed not by the packet processor, but by the post-processor, when the network equipment receives packets belonging to a second flow for which a result of the processing implemented on a packet of the second flow by the packet processor is not registered in the cache, the packet processor implements a processing on a beginning packet of the second flow, and a result of the processing implemented on the beginning packet of the second flow is registered in the cache, the post-processor implements a processing on remaining packets, belonging to the second flow but following the beginning packet of the second flow, by utilizing the result of the processing implemented on the beginning packet of the second flow that is registered in the cache, when the network equipment receives packets belonging to a third flow while the queue in the flow management queue group holds further packets of the second flow following the beginning packet of the second flow, the post-processor implements a processing on a packet of the third flow before the post-processor completes implementing a processing of the further packets of the second flow; and wherein a flow management queue can be selected by referring to order priority information recorded in the information for identifying flows and the information for identifying flows can be extracted from the selected queue, when a plurality of information for identifying flows can be extracted from multiple flow management queues among the flow management queues for managing the information for identifying flows.