A multiple-valued ferroelectric content-addressable memory

A novel architecture for a multiple-valued ferroelectric content-addressable memory (FCAM) is proposed. An FCAM employs ferroelectric capacitors as storage elements to provide a nonvolatile content-addressable memory. A 2-bit search operation is performed by a simultaneous access to a 4-level polarization, hence reducing the total number of search operations to half. Four FCAM structures are discussed in terms of their speed, area, and implementation feasibility.