The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 20, 2009
Filed:
Feb. 22, 2005
Daniel Martin O'keeffe, Dublin, IE;
Eugene O'neill, Dublin, IE;
Edele O'malley, Dublin, IE;
Eoin O'brien, Dublin, IE;
Daniel Martin O'Keeffe, Dublin, IE;
Eugene O'Neill, Dublin, IE;
Edele O'Malley, Dublin, IE;
Eoin O'Brien, Dublin, IE;
3Com Corporation, Marlborough, MA (US);
Abstract
A content addressable memory stores entries each comprising a rule and as part of the entry a mask identifying all the entities to which the rule is applicable. A search pattern of data and a bit mask identifying the actual entity (or entities) associated with the data is applied as a search word along with a comparison mask that excludes all the other entities from the comparison of the search word with the entry. The CAM can thereby store efficiently in a single entry a rule that may be applicable to some but not all of a multiplicity of entities such as possible ingress ports of a network unit.