INTERLEAVED PROCESSING SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING FRAMES WITHIN A NETWORK ROUTER

A system and method for performing interleaved packet processing. A packet includes a source address bit pattern and a destination address bit pattern that are processed by a task processor in accordance with a data tree. A first bank of registers is utilized to load an instruction to be executed by the task processor at nodes of the data tree in accordance with the source address bit pattern. A second bank of registers is utilized for loading an instruction to be executed by the task processor at nodes of the data tree in accordance with the destination address bit pattern. A task scheduler enables the first bank of registers to transfer an instruction loaded therein for processing by the task processor only during even time cycles and for enabling the second bank of registers to transfer an instruction loaded therein for processing by the task processor only during odd time cycles.