The classification system of a network device includes a cache in which a
mapping between predefined characteristics of TCP/IP packets and
associated actions are stored in response to the first "Frequent Flyer"
packet in of a session. Selected characteristics from subsequent received
packets of that session are correlated with the predefined
characteristics and the stored actions are applied to the received
packets if the selected characteristics and the predefined
characteristics match, thus reducing the processing required for
subsequent packets. The packets selected for caching may be data packets.
For mismatched characteristics, the full packet search of the
classification system is used to determine the action to apply to the
received packet.