| CPC G06F 9/30145 (2013.01) [G06F 9/3867 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |

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1. A network device, comprising:
one or more ports, to exchange packets between the network device and a network;
match-action circuitry, to match at least some of the packets to one or more rules so as to set respective actions to be performed, wherein at least one of the actions comprises a programmable action; and
an instruction processor, to perform the programmable action by running user-programmable software code,
wherein the instruction processor comprises architectural registers, one or more of the architectural registers being accessible by the match-action circuitry, and
wherein the match-action circuitry is to write into the architectural registers information for performing the programmable action, the information comprising at least a value indicative of a start address of the user-programmable software code performing the programmable action.
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