A versatile data string-search VLSI

A versatile data string-search VLSI has been fabricated using 1.6- mu m CMOS technology. The VLSI consists of an 8 K content addressable memory (CAM) and a 20 K-gate finite-state automation logic (FSAL). A number of unique functions, such as strict/approximate-match string search and fixed/variable-length 'don't care' operations, were implemented. A total of 217600 transistors have been integrated on an 8.62*12.76-mm die. The unique functions were efficiency tested by the scan path method. The data comparison rate was 5.12 billion characters/s in text-search application.<
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