Patent ID: RE41659

Claim:
A built-in self-test (BIST) circuit for testing a content addressable memory (CAM) core, comprising: a search port for enabling searches of the CAM core; a maintenance port for enabling addressing of locations of the CAM core, the maintenance port further including writing logic for writing to locations of the CAM core; a BIST controller for coordinating BIST testing of the CAM core, the BIST controller being capable of performing a BIST search on the CAM core on every cycle through the search port and performing a BIST write at selected times to the CAM core, the BIST write is capable of being performed in a same cycle as the BIST search; and a maintenance port comparator being coupled between the BIST controller and a data output of the maintenance port, the maintenance port comparator being configured to compare an expected data generated by the BIST controller with actual data provided from the data output of the maintenance port.