A Low-Power Technique Based on Charge Injection and Current-Saving Methods for Match-Line Sensing in Content-Addressable Memories

Based on charge injection and current-saving methods, a novel technique is presented to achieve low power for match-line sensing in Content-Addressable Memories (CAMs). The proposed technique eliminates the requirement for an additional large capacitance as in charge injection method, and delay element as in current-saving method. Simulation results show that, for a 2.06ns search under 1.2V 0.13μm CMOS process, the word circuit of the proposed 256-word×l44-bit TCAM consumes 0.33fJ/bit/search, which accounts for 36.7% that of charge injection and 47.1% that of current-saving.