PACKET CACHE SYSTEM AND METHOD

A packet cache system includes a cache memory allocator for receiving a memory address corresponding to a non-cache memory and allocated to a packet, and associating the memory address with a cache memory address; a hash table for storing the memory address and the cache memory address, with the memory address as a key and the cache memory address as a value; a cache memory for storing the packet at a location indicated by the cache memory address; and an eviction engine for determining one or more cached packets to remove from the cache memory and place in the non-cache memory when occupancy of the cache memory is high.