Patent ID: 7257672
Filing Date: 2007-08-14
Classification: G06F,G11C

Abstract:
1. A method for identifying a highest-priority matching entry in a ternary content-addressable memory, the ternary content-addressable memory includes a plurality of entries, each of the plurality of entries includes a value and a mask and is associated with at least one error code; the plurality of entries comprises a plurality of groups of said entries, with all entries in each of said groups differing in a count of ones from each other entry in the same group by more than k, wherein k is an integer greater than zero, the method comprising: for each particular group of said groups of entries, determining a highest-priority possible hit entry in said particular group, if any, for a lookup word; for each particular highest-priority possible hit entry of said determined highest-priority possible hit entries, determining whether or not said particular highest-priority possible hit entry is a candidate for being the highest-priority matching entry based on said error code associated with said particular highest-priority possible hit entry; and determining a highest-priority candidate entry from said determined candidate entries.