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

Claim 18:
19. A decision generation method for TCAM, comprising:
receiving a target data string;
determining one or more masks, and generating an input data string according to the one or more masks and the target data string;
applying a plurality of searching voltages to a plurality of first search lines and a plurality of second search lines according to the input data string;
generating one or more decision parameters according to a plurality of current values sensed by a plurality of current sensing units; and
generated a decision according to the one or more decision parameters;
wherein the first search lines and the second search lines are coupled to a plurality of memory cell strings, the plurality of memory cell strings comprise a particular memory cell string, the particular memory cell string comprises a plurality of memory cells, 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 strings 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.