Associative memory comparison for target identification

This paper presents the execution speed comparison of two associative memory organizations used to identify weapon platforms from intercepted radar emanations. The two associative memory organizations were chosen because of their fundamentally different levels of processing granularity. The CAM was chosen because its processing is performed within the memory cell, while the bit-serial word-parallel associative memory was chosen because its processing is performed at the memory word level. Both organizations were designed, modelled and simulated to determine which was the faster in comparing 8-bit, and 32-bit target parameters. The associative memories were designed to store the parameters of at least 72 weapon platforms, with each platform consisting of six parameters, and each parameter consisting of an upper and lower limit. The number of bits per word and the number of words within the memory were varied to accommodate the target parameters and to enhance the comparison speed. The comparison speed was calculated by summing the critical path delays through each memory. The comparison speed results indicate which associative memory organization is the more appropriate for identifying the weapon platform