Patent · US Expired

Semiconductor integrated circuit

US5305262A · kind A · utility

93Cited by
4References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateSep 9, 1992
Grant dateApr 19, 1994
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 9, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11C15/046
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A semiconductor integrated circuit has a CAM structure based on nonvolatile memories which is used for forming a flexible CAM of large scale integration. The circuit includes a first memory cell for defining the electrical connection or the nonconnection between a first data line and a match line, a second memory cell for defining the electrical nonconnection or the connection between a second data line and the match line, and a selective transistor for making or breaking the connection between each of the first and the second data lines and the match line. The threshold voltage of the selective transistor has a predetermined value incorporated during the fabrication process. The semiconductor integrated circuit can electrically connect a selective word line connected to a gate electrode of the selective transistor to the match line and has a tri-state buffer for making the potential of the selective word line float. The threshold voltage of each nonvolatile memory is set at a predetermined voltage. The semiconductor integrated circuit is capable of retrieving data from a plurality of memory cells at high speed without mutual interference and is able to provide an associative memor…

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