Method and apparatus for possibly decreasing the number of associative memory entries by supplementing an associative memory result with discriminator bits from an original set of information

A method comprising:

• identifying a plurality of sets of potential discriminator bits;
• determining an associative memory programming for each of the plurality of sets of potential discriminator bits for each one of one or more configuration files to produce a set of results;
• analyzing the set of results to identify a discriminator portion and a lookup word portion of an input word;
• wherein the set of results includes a number of associative memory entries generated by said determining the associative memory programing;
• and
• wherein said analyzing the set of results includes determining which of the plurality of sets of potential discriminator bits produces a minimal number of associative memory entries.

An apparatus configured to operate on a set of information, the set of information including a lookup word portion and a discriminator portion and the lookup word portion includes a plurality of non-contiguous data from the set of information, the apparatus comprising:

• means for deriving a lookup word based on the lookup word portion;
• means for performing a lookup operation on an associative memory using the lookup word to generate an associative memory result;
• and
• means for performing a memory lookup operation on a memory based on the associative memory result and the discriminator portion.

A computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions for performing steps, said steps comprising:

• identifying a plurality of sets of potential discriminator bits;
• determining an associative memory programming for each of the plurality of sets of potential discriminator bits for each one of one or more configuration files to produce a set of results;
• analyzing the set of results to identify a discriminator portion and a lookup word portion of an input word;
• wherein the set of results includes a number of associative memory entries generated by said determining the associative memory programing;
• and
• wherein said analyzing the set of results includes determining which of the plurality of sets of potential discriminator bits produces a minimal number of associative memory entries.