Abstract
This paper presents a Ternary Content Addressable Memory with Individuality (ITCAM), which has individuality for data retrieval that is caused by the manufacturing of each LSI. The results of the maskable search by the ITCAM are different for each LSI. The ITCAM was implemented on two FPGA chips and tested in practice. The characteristic evaluation results show that the mask value for each LSI and word is slightly different due to the manufacturing variations. The reproducibility of mask value was confirmed under certain conditions. The reproducibilities were 88%, 73%, and 32% for one FPGA chip (CHIP A) and 94%, 52%, and 47% for another (CHIP B) when the operating time of ITCAM is 8, 64, and 128 system clocks, respectively. Thus, the reported ITCAM is a promising solution for providing a little individuality to each LSI.
