Performing lookup operations using associative memories optionally including selectively determining which associative memory blocks to use in identifying a result and possibly propagating error indications

An associative memory device comprising:

• a plurality of associative memory blocks, each of the associative memory blocks indicating an associative memory block lookup result;
• and
• an output selector configured to retrieve from a memory an indication of the plurality of associative memory blocks to consider in producing an overall lookup result, and to select among said plurality of associative memory block lookup results based on the indication of the plurality of associative memory blocks to consider in producing the overall lookup result;
• wherein the associative memory device is configured to receive a profile ID;
• and wherein the output selector is configured to retrieve the indication of the plurality of associative memory blocks to consider from the memory based on the profile ID.

An associative memory for generating a lookup result, the associative memory including a plurality of associative memory blocks, the associative memory comprising:

• means for retrieving an indication of a subset of the plurality of associative memory blocks to use in determining the lookup result, each of the subset of the plurality of associative memory blocks indicating an associative memory block lookup result;
• means for selecting a highest priority hit result from said associative memory block lookup results from the subset of the plurality of associative memory blocks;
• and
• means for indicating the highest priority hit result as the lookup result;
• and means for identifying and reacting to an abort condition.

An associative memory for generating a lookup result, the associative memory including a plurality of associative memory blocks, the associative memory comprising:

• means for receiving a profile ID;
• means for identifying, based on the profile ID an indication of a subset of the plurality of associative memory blocks to use in determining the lookup result, each of the subset of the plurality of associative memory blocks indicating an associative memory block lookup result;
• means for selecting a highest priority hit result from said associative memory block lookup results from the subset of the plurality of associative memory blocks;
• and means for indicating the highest priority hit result as the lookup result.

An associative memory for generating a lookup result, the associative memory including a plurality of associative memory blocks, the associative memory comprising:

• means for retrieving an indication of a subset of the plurality of associative memory blocks to use in determining the lookup result, each of the subset of the plurality of associative memory blocks indicating an associative memory block lookup result;
• means for selecting a highest priority hit result from said associative memory block lookup results from the subset of the plurality of associative memory blocks;
• means for indicating the highest priority hit result as the lookup result;
• and
• means for receiving and reacting to one or more error signals from one or more previous stage results.