Dynamic Energy Reduction in TCAM Match-Line Sensing Using Charge-Sharing and Positive Feedback
Abstract
Network routers use ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) for high-speed table look-up. A match-line (ML) sensing scheme for TCAM combining charge-sharing and positive feedback is presented. The objective is to simplify the ML sense amplifier (MLSA) of existing charge-sharing scheme while reducing ML energy consumption during look-up. The look-up has been performed in two steps. In the first step, a segment of each TCAM word is compared with the search key to detect large percentage of the mismatched words. The detected mismatched words are deactivated in the second step to reduce energy consumption. In the second step, the charge stored in a matched ML first segment is shared with second ML segment. Use of positive feedback in this step makes the MLSA circuit simple. Post-layout simulations implemented using 180nm 1.8V CMOS logic have been performed. In addition to lower scheme complexity and 16.5% reduction in circuit area, the proposed scheme provides dynamic energy saving up to 5.5% and peak power reduction of 52% compared to existing state-of-the-art charge-sharing technique.
This paper was recommended by the Regional Editor Emre Salman.
