1. An automaton engine, comprising: a transition table organized into 2 n rows, wherein each row comprises a plurality of storage locations, wherein each storage location has n bits and no more than n bits, wherein each storage location stores an n-bit entry value, wherein a first automaton and a second automaton are both encoded in the transition table, and wherein each row is usable to store an entry value that points to at least one other row; and next state logic that receives entry values from the transition table and generates therefrom a next state vector.