Low power high speed ternary content addressable memory

Abstract

Compared to Binary Content Addressable Memory (BiCAM) there are many applications for Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM) as a search engine. But TCAM consumes more power than BiCAM. So, the saving of TCAM power consumption is the main objective of numerous designs. Precharge phase of the TCAM leads to more power consumption. Newly, a precharge free NOR type BiCAM has been suggested but it takes more time for its operation. Here, precharge free high speed NOR type TCAM is proposed. The proposed TCAM architecture takes power same as precharge free NOR type TCAM but its delay has been reduced by 84%. Simulations performed with cadence 45-nm technology at the supply voltage of 1V.