This module uses a Patricia Trie data structure to quickly perform
IP address prefix matching for applications such as IP subnet,
network or routing table lookups. The data structure is based on
a radix tree using a radix of two, so sometimes you see patricia
implementations called "radix" as well. The term "Trie" is derived
from the word "retrieval" but is pronounced like "try". Patricia
stands for "Practical Algorithm to Retrieve Information Coded as
Alphanumeric", and was first suggested for routing table lookups
by Van Jacobsen. Patricia Trie performance characteristics are
well-known as it has been employed for routing table lookups within
the BSD kernel since the 4.3 Reno release.
The BSD radix code is thoroughly described in "TCP/IP Illustrated,
Volume 2" by Wright and Stevens and in the paper ``A Tree-Based
Packet Routing Table for Berkeley Unix'' by Keith Sklower.
WWW: http://net.doit.wisc.edu/~plonka/Net-Patricia/
