Patent ID: 7219276

Claim:
A method for testing a plurality of content addressable memory (CAM) cells in a CAM device, comprising the steps of: (a) testing said CAM device to identify stuck match lines by conducting a 1-pattern or 0-pattern search match line test and repairing or disabling row addresses for the CAM device which corresponds to rows having stuck match lines; (b) testing said CAM device to identify defective pull down lines using a walking 1 or 0 match pattern and repairing or disabling cells at bit positions identified as having defective pull down lines; (c) testing each CAM cell in said CAM device to locate a faulty CAM cell; and (d) for each located faulty CAM cell identified in step (c), diagnosing a cause of fault for said faulty CAM cell by applying at least one signal to said faulty CAM cell and reading a state of the match line associated with said faulty cell.