12. A method of accessing a rule memory bank for use with a pattern matching search engine, said method comprising: providing a plurality of physical rule banks operative to store pattern context rules; providing a plurality of logical transition rule banks operative to store transition rules; providing a plurality of logical default rule banks operative to store default rules; mapping said plurality of logical transition rule banks and said plurality of logical default rule banks in said plurality of physical rule banks; enabling independent access between said pattern matching search engine and the contents of said plurality of physical rule banks; and determining which rule bank holds transition rules and which rule bank holds default rules in accordance with a pattern context.
15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein each physical rule bank comprises a rules cache.