Pattern matching

A method comprising:

• receiving a input stream via a network;
• detecting, in a first circuit, a first component of one or more patterns of a set of patterns;
• signaling, by the first circuit, the detection of the first component of one or more strings;
• and
• detecting, in a second circuit, if a second component of the one or more patterns of a set of patterns immediately follows the first component in the input stream.

A system comprising:

• a source of an input stream including at least one of a disk system and a data link of a data network;
• and
• a pattern matching system configured to accept an input stream accepted by the system from the source, the pattern matching system including
• a first pattern matcher configured to detect in an input stream a first component of one or more patterns of a set of patterns according to the data representing a first set of pattern components, and to generate a signal indicative of the detection of the first component, and
• a second pattern matcher configured to receive the signal from the first pattern matcher and to detect, according to the data representing a second set of pattern components, if a second component of the one or more patterns of the set of patterns immediately follows the first component in the input stream.