Multi-rule approach to encoding a group of rules

A tangible non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable instructions stored therein for encoding a plurality of key matching rules grouped in a chunk, each of the key matching rules beginning with a header, which when executed by a rule encoding engine, provided with a chunk in which each key matching rule of the chunk has at least one dimension, cause the rule encoding engine to build a multi-rule corresponding to the chunk by:

• storing in memory, communicatively coupled to the rule encoding engine, a multi-rule header of the multi-rule, the multi-rule header representing, collectively, a plurality of headers stored one after the other, the multi-rule header being decoded by a rule matching engine in a single decode operation to extract the plurality of headers of the key matching rules, wherein the plurality of headers include values which control the rule matching engine processing of the key matching rules, including dimensions, the rule matching engine formats the key matching rules based on a key and matches the key matching rules against the key to find a match based on the values stored in the plurality of headers.