Hybrid Packet Memory for Buffering Packets in Network Devices

A method for processing packets in a network device, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a packet processor of the network device, packets ingressing via a network port among a plurality of network ports of the network device;
• processing, with the packet processor, the packets at least to determine one or more network ports, of the plurality of network ports, via which the packets are to be transmitted from the network device;
• classifying, with the packet processor, the packets into packet flows, the packet flows being further categorized into traffic pattern categories characteristic of traffic pattern characteristics of the packet flows;
• buffering, with the packet processor, according to the traffic pattern categories of the packet flows, packets that belong to the packet flows in one of i) a first packet memory and ii) a second packet memory, the first packet memory having a first memory access bandwidth different from a second memory access bandwidth of the second packet memory;
• after processing the packets, retrieving, with the packet processor, the packets from the first packet memory or the second packet memory in which the packets are buffered;
• and
• forwarding, with the packet processor, the packets to the determined one or more network ports for transmission of the packets via the determined one or more network ports.