A search engine architecture substitutes short indices for large data widths, thereby reducing widths required for input to and output from the search engine. The search engine system comprises a search engine responsive to an input address to access an index in the search engine. The index has a width no greater than logarithm on base 2 of the search engine capacity, thereby permitting the search engine to be embodied in an IC chip of reduced area. A driver responds to input commands and to the search engine status to manage indices in the search engine and enable the memory to access its addressable locations based on indices in the search engine.