Method and apparatus for longest prefix match search

A network device includes a memory configured to store a plurality of entries in respective locations in the memory, the plurality of entries corresponding to a trie data structure for performing a longest prefix match search. The network device also includes: a memory access engine configured to retrieve from a location in the memory, in a single memory lookup operation, i) longest prefix match information for a node corresponding to a network address in a header of a packet, and ii) pointer information that indicates a child node in the trie data structure. The network device also includes: a child node address calculator configured to use i) the longest prefix match information, and ii) the pointer information, to calculate a memory address of another location in the memory corresponding to the child node.