High-throughput low-energy content-addressable memory based on self-timed overlapped search mechanism

Naoya Onizawa, Shoun Matsunaga, Vincent C. Gaudet, Takahiro Hanyu

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper introduces a self-timed overlapped search mechanism for high-throughput content-addressable memories (CAMs) with low search energy. Most mismatches can be found by searching the first few bits in a search word. Consequently, if a word circuit is divided into two sections that are sequentially searched, most match lines in the second section are unused. As searching the first section is faster than searching an entire word, we could potentially increase throughput by initiating a second-stage search on the unused match lines as soon as a first-stage search is complete. The overlapped search mechanism is realized using a self-timed word circuit that is independently controlled by a locally generated control signal, reducing the power dissipation of global clocking. A 256 x 144-bit CAM is designed under in 90 nm CMOS that operates with 5.57x faster throughput than a synchronous CAM, with 38% energy saving and 8% area overhead.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2012 IEEE 18th International Symposium on Asynchronous Circuits and Systems, ASYNC 2012
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages41-48
Number of pages8
ISBN (Print)9780769546889
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012
Event2012 IEEE 18th International Symposium on Asynchronous Circuits and Systems, ASYNC 2012 - Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 2012 May 72012 May 9

Publication series

NameProceedings - International Symposium on Asynchronous Circuits and Systems
ISSN (Print)2643-1394
ISSN (Electronic)2643-1483

Conference

Conference2012 IEEE 18th International Symposium on Asynchronous Circuits and Systems, ASYNC 2012
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityCopenhagen
Period12/5/712/5/9

Keywords

  • NAND-type CAM
  • associative memory
  • asynchronous circuits
  • hierarchical match-line structure

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'High-throughput low-energy content-addressable memory based on self-timed overlapped search mechanism'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this