Patent ID: 11923008
Assignee: MACRONIX INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A ternary content addressable memory (TCAM), comprising:
a plurality of first search lines;
a plurality of second search lines;
a plurality of memory cell strings, each of the memory cell strings comprising a plurality of memory cells, each of the memory cells coupled to one of the first search lines and one of the second search lines; and
one or more current sensing units, coupled to the memory cell strings,
wherein in a search operation, a determination that whether any of the data stored in the memory cell strings matches a data string to be searched is made according to whether the one or more current sensing units detect current from the memory cell strings, or according to the magnitude of the current flowing out from the memory cell strings detected by the one or more current sensing units;
wherein the plurality of memory cell strings comprise a particular memory cell string, each memory cell of the particular memory cell string comprises a first transistor and a second transistor, a first terminal of the first transistor is coupled to a corresponding first search line, a first terminal of the second transistor is coupled to a corresponding second search line, the first terminal of the first transistor is a gate of the first transistor, and the first terminal of the second transistor is a gate of the second transistor;
wherein when the data stored in the particular memory cell string matches the data string to be searched in the search operation, a particular current flows through the memory cells of the particular memory cell string and a corresponding current sensing unit detects the particular current outputted from the particular memory cell string, or the corresponding current sensing unit detects a magnitude of the particular current.