Patent Document ID: 8665868
Application ID: 12500493
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. An apparatus, comprising: a plurality of microcode controlled state machines including a first microcode controlled state machine and a second microcode controlled state machine; a distribution circuit that routes input data to the plurality of microcode controlled state machines such that the first microcode controlled state machine applies a first rule to the input data, the first rule being associated with a first data category, and the second microcode controlled state machine applies a second rule to the input data, the second rule being associated with a second data category different from the first data category, wherein: the first microcode controlled state machine determines a first category match indicator vector including a first category match indicator associated with the first data category and a second category match indicator associated with the second data category, wherein the first category match indicator indicates, based on application of the first rule, if the input data is in the first data category; and the second microcode controlled state machine determines a second category match indicator vector including a third category match indicator associated with the first data category and a fourth category match indicator associated with the second data category, wherein the fourth category match indicator indicates, based on application of the second rule, if the input data is in the second data category; and a first circuit that generates combined category match information including a first logical combination of the first category match indicator and the third category match indicator, and a second logical combination of the second category match indicator and the fourth category match indicator; wherein the first circuit appends the combined category match information to the input data.