| 摘要 |
Match selection circuits are connected to respective ones of match lines connecting corresponding rows of CAM cells associated with word lines. A match selection control circuit, the inputs of which are the word lines, generates match line inhibit signals that inhibit a search when a data search is conducted in the CAM. On the basis of a precharge signal from a control circuit and a match line inhibit signal from the match selection control circuit applied thereto, the match selection circuits inhibit a data search in row-direction CAM cells connected to the match lines that are connected to these match selection circuits, respectively, thereby specifying a data search range in terms of individual word lines. A match line corresponding to each word line in the specified search range attains a non-match state regardless of whether the result of a search is a match or non-match. Thus a data search range is specified by the positions of selected word lines. The number of data search operations is reduced and less power is consumed when the CAM operates.
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