Associative memory system having configurable means for comparing fields in an array of stored data words with corresponding one or more fields in a supplied argument word
US5444649A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 10, 1993 |
| Grant date | Aug 22, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 10, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11C15/00
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An associative memory is configurable to detect one of a plurality of relationships among a set of data, all within a number of cycles equal to the number of bits in the field of data upon which the sort is being executed. Because the memory is configurable, a single memory array can be used to accomplish a wide variety of results, either changing the relationship upon which the data is sorted on the fly, or providing a field programmable or mask programmable configuration input to adapt a given array design to a particular need. The array can be configured according to a configuration input to detect a relationship among fields of data stored in the memory selected from the group including "greater than", "greater than or equal to", "less than", "less than or equal to", "equal to", a minimum and a maximum. Further, the memory system can be adapted to detect the minimum of a first field in a given row and the maximum of a second field in a given row in parallel.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.