The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 29, 2001
Filed:
May. 01, 2000
David J. McElroy, Livingston, TX (US);
Micron Technology, Inc., Boise, ID (US);
Abstract
A CAM device that utilizes a portion of a desired content as a row address is provided. A row in a CAM memory array is accessed using the row address portion of the desired content. The remaining portion of the desired content is used as a key data tag for comparison with content stored within memory locations of the addressed row. This way, the CAM device does not have to sequentially access each row in the memory array to locate memory cells having the desired content. The CAM can comprise a standard DRAM memory array, sense amplifiers and compare logic located in the sense amplifiers. Alternatively, the CAM device can comprise a standard SRAM memory array and associated compare logic. By accessing the CAM device using a portion of the desired content as a row address, the CAM device can perform a high speed search while also reducing the complexity of the CAM circuitry.