Fast packet classification algorithm for network-wide forwarding behaviors.

Packet classification has been a key technology to quickly identify an action to be taken on a packet at a switch. Several advanced applications, most of which have been introduced recently with the advent of software-defined networking, commonly require the identification of a combination of switch actions, i.e., the network-wide forwarding behavior of a packet. Conventional classification methods, however, fail to well support network-wide behaviors, since the search space is partitioned in convoluted manner due to the complexity posed by the combinations possible.