Method and apparatus for parallel and conditional data manipulation in a software-defined network processing engine

Embodiments of the present invention relate to fast and conditional data modification and generation in a software-defined network (SDN) processing engine. Modification of multiple inputs and generation of multiple outputs can be performed in parallel. A size of each input or output data can be large, such as in hundreds of bytes. The processing engine includes a control path and a data path. The control path generates instructions for modifying inputs and generating new outputs. The data path executes all instructions produced by the control path. The processing engine is typically programmable such that conditions and rules for data modification and generation can be reconfigured depending on network features and protocols supported by the processing engine. The SDN processing engine allows for processing multiple large-size data flows and is efficient in manipulating such data. The SDN processing engine achieves full throughput with multiple back-to-back input and output data flows.