1. A pattern matching apparatus, comprising: a data engine operative to receive search commands, each said search command comprising one or more patterns to be searched and input data to be searched against said one or more patterns; an algorithm engine in communication with said data engine, said algorithm engine operative to execute said search commands and attempt to match said one or more patterns to said input data corresponding thereto and to generate match results therefrom; and wherein said data engine comprises a plurality of command units, each said command unit comprising one or more search units operative to arbitrate for a search lane in said algorithm engine that contains rules required for executing a particular search command.