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US 7,117,301 B1Granted
Packet based communication for content addressable memory (CAM) devices and systems
AssigneeNetLogic Microsystems, Inc.
InventorsDavid V. James, Jagadeesan Rajamanickam
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A search engine system (100) and CAM device (300) are disclosed. A search engine system (100) may generate response packets (112) in response to requests packets (110) and include at least one content addressable memory (CAM) device (102-0) having an input interface (116-0) for receiving data packets and an output interface (116-1) for transmitting data packets.
Claims18
A content addressable memory (CAM) device, comprising:
- a de-packetizing section that receives data packets on at least one device input data lane that includes a plurality of conductive lines, the de-packetizing section extracting command data from the received data packets;
- a CAM core for executing search functions in response to command data extracted from the received data packets;
- and
- a packetizing section that receives result data from the CAM core and outputs such data in a predetermined packet format on at least one device output data lane, that includes a plurality of conductive lines, to a destination external to the CAM device, the packet format including a packet size field that indicates the size of the packet.
1 more element
A method, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a request in data packet form at a plurality of content addressable memory (CAM) device inputs;
- extracting command information from the request;
- executing predetermined CAM operations in response to the command information;
- and
- outputting result data generated in response to the request in data packet form at a plurality of CAM device outputs that are different than the CAM device inputs, the packet form including a code field that indicates the start of the data packet.
2 more elements
A content addressable memory (CAM) system, comprising:
- at least one interface configured to send data packets;
- the sent data packets including response data packets having a status field that stores a status indication for a search in the CAM system and a size field that indicates the size of the data packet;
- and
- at least one of the sent data packets includes a request data packet having a data field that stores a search key value for comparison with entries in the CAM system.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.