7. A hybrid ternary content addressable memory (TCAM), comprising: a first TCAM stage configured to compare a first portion of a search word to a first portion of a stored word; and a second TCAM stage configured to compare a second portion of the search word to a second portion of the stored word when the first portion of the search word matches the first portion of the stored word, the first portion of the search word being different than the second portion of the search word, and the first TCAM stage being configured as a first type TCAM and the second TCAM stage being configured as a second type TCAM, the first type TCAM being different than the second type TCAM.
8. The TCAM of claim 7 , further comprising an encoder configured to encode mask bits and key bits at the second TCAM stage during a write operation, the encoding comprising translating the mask bits and the key bits from values used for the first TCAM stage to values used for the second TCAM stage.