System and Method for Dynamic Huffman Decoding

A method of decoding a dynamic Huffman encoded data stream comprising receiving, by a processor, one or more input bits of encoded data from among an encoded data stream, searching, by the processor, a ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) for one or more codewords, accessing, by the processor, a plurality of random access memories (RAMs) that comprise the TCAM and have a maximum number of entries that is less than or equal to one half of two to a power of a maximum number of bits to be searched, reading a value from a first level RAM and using the value to index to a second level RAM, and outputting, by the processor, a codeword length and a decoded codeword value from either the first or second level RAM.