Patent ID: 8258801

Claim:
A method for detecting a conductivity state of a nanowire junction at a nanowire intersection of nanowires i and j within a n×m nanowire crossbar, the method comprising: outputting to a selected one of nanowires i and j a first signal while outputting to the remaining nanowires parallel to the selected one of nanowires i and j, a second signal; outputting to the other of nanowires i and j the second signal while outputting to the remaining nanowires parallel to the other of nanowires i and j the first signal; when a first type of signal is detected on a multiplexer wire interconnected with the selected one of nanowires i and j and the remaining nanowires parallel to the selected one of nanowires i and j, determining the conductivity state of the nanowire junction at nanowire intersection of nanowires i and j to be in a first state; and when a second type of signal is detected on the multiplexer wire, determining the conductivity state of the nanowire junction at nanowire intersection of nanowires i and j to be in a second state; said method comprising applying a different voltage with a controllable voltage source to said multiplexer wire depending on whether a READ or WRITE operation is being performed on an element of said crossbar.