Patent · US Expired

Memory using conventional cells to perform a ram or an associative memory function

US4740917A · kind A · utility

20Cited by
7References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 12, 1985
Grant dateApr 26, 1988
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 12, 2005

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C15/04
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Memory comprising a matrix of conventional Harper pnp cells and peripheral circuits which allows it to be used either as a random access memory or as an associative memory. In addition to the read/write circuits which are inhibited in search mode, it comprises search mode control circuits 7-1 to 7-m to provide the memory cells with a search argument DI-1 to DI-m and search circuits 11-1 to 11-n connected to the word lines for detecting the match or mismatch conditions. A search restore circuit 15 common to all word lines WL is used to restore the work lines to a quiescent voltage once the search operation is completed. Circuits 7 and 11 are inhibited in read/write mode.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.