Patent ID: 7080195
Filing Date: 2006-07-18
Classification: G11C

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for identifying matching items, the apparatus comprising: an associative memory bank, including an ordered plurality of entries, for generating matching indication signals for each matching entry of the ordered plurality of entries that matches a lookup value; and a merging mechanism, coupled to the matching mechanism, for identifying a winning entry from said matching entries, wherein each of the ordered plurality of entries is associated with (a) one of an ordered plurality of groups and (b) a skip or a no-skip condition, and wherein the merging mechanism selects the winning entry based on said matching indication signals; wherein said selecting the winning entry includes identifying as the winning entry an entry of said matching entries first in the priority ordering of the ordered plurality of entries that is not in a group that is skipped, wherein a particular group is skipped if the highest priority matching entry of the particular group is associated with a skip condition.