TERNARY CONTENT-ADDRESSABLE MEMORY

摘要

The present invention relates to a ternary content-addressable memory (CAM) device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a ternary content-addressable memory device in which the total number of component elements of the content-addressable memory is reduced so as to reduce the size of the content-addressable memory, improve integration, and reduce power consumption, and in which the loss of data stored in the ternary content-addressable memory can be minimized during a refreshing operation for storing data or during a comparing and searching operation for data stored in the ternary content-addressable memory. As compared to conventional ternary content-addressable memories, the ternary content-addressable memory according to the present invention has fewer transistors as components in order to reduce the size thereof. Therefore, the integration of memory, which is one of the most important elements in designing memory, can be improved, thus enabling the design of small and lightweight products. In addition, the ternary content-addressable memory according to the present invention controls the periodicity of the high-value signal applied to the memory during a refreshing operation for storing data or during a comparing and searching operation for data stored in the ternary content-addressable memory, thereby minimizing the loss of data stored in the memory.