Method and apparatus encoding a rule for a lookup request in a processor

摘要

In one embodiment, a method includes encoding a key matching rule having at least one dimension by storing in a memory (i) a header of the key matching rule that has at least one header field, and (ii) at least one rule value field of the key matching rule corresponding to one of the dimensions.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
encoding a key matching network security rule having at least one dimension by storing in a memory:
a length of the key matching network security rule;a header of the key matching network security rule having at least one header field; andat least one rule value field of the key matching network security rule, a given rule value field of the at least one rule value field corresponding to a given dimension of the at least one dimension, a given header field of the at least one header field including at least one dimension validity field storing a dimension validity value, a given dimension validity field of the at least one dimension validity field corresponding to the given dimension of the at least one dimension of the key matching network security rule, the stored length indicating an end of processing for the key matching network security rule, the dimension validity value stored in the given dimension validity field indicating whether the corresponding given dimension is stored to enable the key matching network security rule to occupy less space in the memory.