Method and system for managing multi-field classification rules relating to ingress contexts and egress contexts

A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for managing a plurality of multi-field classification rules comprising, the program instructions for:

• (a) providing a first table including a plurality of entries corresponding to a plurality of rules relating to an ingress context;
• (b) providing a second table including a plurality of entries corresponding to a plurality of rules relating to an egress context;
• and
• (c) utilizing the first table and the second table to identify any rules relating to the ingress context and any rules relating to the egress context that match a search key.

A classification system comprising:

• at least one communications network;
• at least one switch in each of the at least one communications network;
• storage in the at least one switch for storing a plurality of multi-field classification rules;
• a first table in the storage including a plurality of entries corresponding to a plurality of rules relating to an ingress context;
• a second table in the storage including a plurality of entries corresponding to a plurality of rules relating to an egress context;
• and
• a network processor in the at least one switch for classifying packets of information, wherein the network processor is programmed to utilize the first table and the second table to identify any rules relating to the ingress context and any one rules relating to the egress context that match a search key.