Inventors:
Tony Huang - Novato CA
John Edward Vincent - Ottawa, CA
James Leslie Watchorn - Nepean, CA
Paul Fong-Yan Hung - Stittsville, CA
Osama Bahgat - Petaluma CA
Gary Depelteau - Ottawa, CA
James McLaughlin - Nepean, CA
Assignee:
Nortel Networks Limited - Montreal
International Classification:
H04L 1250
Abstract:
Methods and apparatus are described for translating identifiers that are used by computers to reference various entities such as data structures, external objects, or connections in a telecommunications network, from a bulkier less manageable format to a smaller more manageable format. Such translations are carried out to reduce the needless processing and memory demands that are made of a localized set of components when the large identifiers the set receives from other components include fields that none of the members of the set need to access. The invention is centerd around a two-stage look-up method wherein an inputted external identifier is divided into two parts. The first part of the inputted external identifier is used as an address into a first look-up table that contains base-addresses of a second look-up table. The second part of the inputted external identifier is used as an offset-address into the second look-up table. The offset-address and the base-address are combined to access the second look-up table, which contains all the internal identifiers.