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:
Apr. 15, 2003
Filed:
Jul. 25, 2002
NeoMagic Corp., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
An associative processor uses a content-addressable memory (CAM) array to operate on data. The array has several CAM banks that store data in CAM memory cells. Each CAM bank has a register file that stores compare data that drives compare bit lines to the CAM cells, which activate row-match signals for rows with matching data. Each CAM bank has a register file with copies of compare data for all CAM banks. An index value identifies which of the compare registers drives the bank's compare bit lines. When a bank-swap instruction is executed, the index values of two banks are swapped, causing the compare data to be used for a different CAM bank. The physical data in the CAM banks is not swapped, but the compare data used for comparisons is swapped. Since the register files contain all banks' compare data, the compare data does not have to be physically moved.