The past few years have seen significant change in the landscape of high-end network processing. In response to the formidable challenges facing this emerging field, the editors of this series set out to survey the latest research and practices in the design, programming, and use of network processors.

Through chapters on hardware, software, performance and modeling, Network Processor Design illustrates the potential for new NP applications, helping to lay a theoretical foundation for the architecture, evaluation, and programming of networking processors.

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As the demand for digital communication networks has increased, so have the challenges in network component design. To meet ever-escalating performance, flexibility, and economy requirements, the networking industry has opted to build products around network processors. These new chips range from task-specific processors, such as classification and encryption engines, to more general-purpose packet or communications processors. Programmable yet application-specific, their designs are tailored to efficiently implement communications applications such as routing, protocol analysis, voice...