CAM Design Based on Virtex Family Devices

A content addressable memory (CAM) is a storage array designed to quickly find the location of a particular stored value. By comparing the input against the data in memory, a CAM determines if an input value matches one or more values stored in the array. If the comparison is done simultaneously, the CAM is said to be performing at maximum efficiency. If a match exists, it is found in a single clock cycle. CAM is used in networking, telecommunication, Ethernet, ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) switches applications. This design introduces a methodology for designing a flexible, small to medium size CAM, in Virtex or Virtex-E slices.