PENDING
Please predict whether this patent is acceptable.PATENT ABSTRACT: A method and device for partitioning packet classification rules are provided. According to an example of the method, one or more group are obtained by initially grouping bits included in a rule set on the network device. A local optimum combination of bits is determined for each group according to a correlation analysis on the group. A global optimum combination of bits having a minimum correlation coefficient and comprising fewest bits is determined from all the local optimum combinations of bits. The rule set is partitioned according to the global optimum combination of bits.