Patent ID: 7391633

Claim:
A sensing circuit for use with a content-addressable memory (CAM) circuit including a plurality of match lines and a plurality of CAM cells connected to the match lines, the sensing circuit comprising: at least one charge sharing circuit; at least one switching circuit connected to the at least one charge sharing circuit and being operative to selectively connect the charge sharing circuit to a corresponding one of the match lines as a function of a first control signal supplied to the at least one switching circuit; and at least one comparator circuit connected to the corresponding match line, the comparator circuit being operative to generate an output signal indicative of a match between search data supplied to at least a given CAM cell connected to the corresponding match line and data stored in the given CAM cell; wherein the charge sharing circuit is operative to remove an amount of charge on the corresponding match line so as to reduce a voltage on the corresponding match line in conjunction with a search operation of the CAM cell.