Reduction of Power in TCAM Using Precharge Controller

Abstract

CAM is a hardware search algorithm based on the software search algorithm. This compares input search data against a table of stored data, and returns the address of the matching data. CAM is an important lookup table hardware for applications like network routers, data compression, image processing and data management.  Ternary cells, in addition, store an “X” value. The “X” value is a don’t care, that represents both “0” and “1”, allowing a wildcard operation. Wildcard operation means that an “X” value stored in a cell causes a match regardless of the input bit. This is a feature used in packet forwarding in Internet routers. The main challenges in the CAM are power consumption without affecting the search speed and the power consumption in the TCAM can be reduced by identifying the missing matchline and not allowing charging fully.