The conventional NOR CAM cells and NAND CAM cells have certain footprint, speed, and power challenges. In order to overcome these short comings, a novel Ternary CAM (TCAM) cell design is introduced by replacing volatile Static RAM with Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) to achieve zero standby power consumption. The patented CAM architecture can form words of various lengths, such as 4-bit, 8-bit, and 16-bit words. These cells can be employed hierarchically to suit large word sizes while accelerating the search speed. This CAM architecture draws inspiration from flash design, sensing for higher density, energy efficiency, and robustness.
Electrical Schematic Diagram of MTJ-Based TCAM Bit Cell