Method for compressing multi-field rule specifications

A method for storing a plurality of multi-field classification rules in a computer system, the method comprising:

• providing a virtual rule table;
• compressing a rule specification corresponding to each of the plurality of multi-field classification rules by
• storing in the provided virtual rule table at least one field definition included in the rule specification and
• replacing the at least one field definition included in the rule specification with an index referencing the at least one field definition stored in the virtual rule table;
• storing the compressed rule specifications corresponding to the plurality of multi-field classification rules and the virtual rule table in a single entry of a memory of the computer system;
• and
• performing a single read operation on the single entry of the memory of the computer system to retrieve the compressed rule specifications corresponding to the plurality of multi-field classification rules.