System and Method for Providing Transformation of Multi-Protocol Packets in a Data Stream

A method for generating a lookup word, the method comprising:

• receiving a set of information including a profile identification;
• retrieving a set of instructions from a profile memory based on the profile identification;
• manipulating the set of information in response to the set of instructions to generate the lookup word, said manipulation including controlling a selection mechanism, the selection mechanism including a matrix of storage elements and shift logic for use in generating the lookup word;
• and
• exporting the lookup word to a content-addressable memory for use by said content-addressable memory in performing a lookup operation to identify one or more content-addressable memory lookup results.

A system for generating a lookup word, the system comprising:

• means for receiving a set of information including a profile identification;
• means for retrieving a set of instructions from a profile memory based on the profile identification;
• means for manipulating the set of information in response to the set of instructions to generate the lookup word, said means for manipulating the set of information includes a matrix of storage elements and shift logic for use in generating the lookup word;
• and
• means for exporting the generated lookup word to a content-addressable memory for use by said content-addressable memory in performing a lookup operation to identify one or more content-addressable memory lookup results.

A packet editor module comprising:

• an input memory configured to store incoming packet header information of a packet;
• a packet processing unit configured to generate packet header information for the packet by operating on the packet header information stored in the input memory, the packet processing unit including a first processing component configured to generate layer 2 (L2) packet header information for the packet and a second processing component implemented in parallel with the first processing component and configured to generate layer 3 (L3) packet header information for the packet;
• and
• a build component configured to receive the generated packet header information while the input memory stores incoming packet header information for a next packet.