A method and apparatus for processing bytes received from a data stream includes
multiple parallel byte processing engines that simultaneously process a first set
of bytes received from a data channel during a first cycle and simultaneously process
a second set of bytes received from the data channel during a second cycle. The
method and apparatus further includes a state memory for storing byte information
pertaining to the first set of bytes. When processing HDLC protocol bytes, the
multiple parallel byte processing engines process the first and second set of bytes
to identify at least one delineating byte contained within the data channel in
accordance with a HDLC protocol. When processing ATM cell bytes, the method and
apparatus further includes multiple parallel quad-byte processing engines for calculating
cell delineation values, and multiple comparators for comparing the calculated
cell delineation values with respective bytes from the second set of bytes to identify
ATM start bytes contained in the first set of bytes.
