Patent ID: 8880556

Claim:
A network device comprising: a ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) programmed to include entries representing a plurality of data structures used in processing network traffic received by the network device; and a processor to: determine a first number of entries associated with a first data structure for insertion in the TCAM; determine a number of open entries in a plurality of respective rows of a plurality of second data structures; relocate, when the number of open entries in each of the plurality of respective rows is less than the first number of entries, a second number of entries in a cascaded manner, the second number of entries being equal to a difference between the first number of entries and the number of open entries, a first portion of the second number of entries being relocated from a first row of the plurality of respective rows, and a second portion of the second number of entries being relocated from a second row of the plurality of respective rows; and insert, based on relocating the second number of entries, the first number of entries associated with the first data structure.