Abstract: A network device includes at least one network port, a masks table, a rules table, a pointers table, and a fast filter processor. The masks table contains filter information and a mask key. The rules table contains corresponding rules to the filter information and is related to the mask table by the mask key. The pointers table contains boundary data related to the rules for corresponding filter information. The fast filter processor is coupled to the mask table, the rules table and the pointers table, and configured to perform at least one binary search for at least one rule related to a data packet received by the network device at the at least one network port, the binary search being limited based on the boundary data in the pointers table.

Abstract: A method for executing diagnostic/testing programs written directly for a computer to be tested. In the preferred embodiment, the operation of the computer to be tested is simulated by a simulation computer and the diagnostic/testing programs are executed on a native computer. The native computer provides messages to the simulation computer indicating operations the diagnostic/testing program attempted to perform on the native computer. The simulation computer receives the messages and executes the operations indicated by the messages. The simulation computer generates response messages indicating the steps the computer to be tested would have executed, such as a direct memory access (DMA read/write), in response to the operations the diagnostic/testing program attempted to perform on the native computer. The response messages are provided to the native computer, which executes the steps contained in the reply messages.