Patent ID: 11967377
Assignee: MEDIATEK SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 10:
11. A method performed by each of a plurality of content addressable memory (CAM) sub-banks of a CAM device, each CAM sub-bank including an array of CAM cells arranged in rows and columns, comprising:
comparing a first portion search key against stored data in first-stage row segments of CAM cells, wherein the CAM sub-bank is partitioned into a first stage and a second stage along a column dimension;
receiving input from first-stage match lines (MLs), each first-stage ML indicating whether a match is found in a corresponding first-stage row segment for a first portion search key;
generating a search line enable (SL_EN) signal based on logic states of all of the first-stage MLs, wherein the SL_EN signal is a gating signal for a plurality of second-stage search line (SL) pairs coupled to the respective columns of CAM cells in the second stage; and
de-asserting the SL_EN signal when none of the first-stage MLs indicate a match, wherein de-assertion of the SL_EN signal blocks a second portion search key from being provided to the second-stage SL pairs.