A TCAM (ternary content addressable memory) series from Renesas Technology Europe targets high speed packet processing for networking equipment such as routers and switches. The first product in the series is the R8A20410BG TCAM, which has a capacity of 20Mbits and delivers high-speed search performance. At a clock frequency of 360MHz, the search processing performance is 360Msample/s/table, which is the highest level in the industry today, says the company. This performance enables 40G and beyond data transfer. TCAM is constructed so that each memory cell can store three data states: 0, 1, and X ("Don't Care"). It is suitable for applications such as networking equipment because it achieves deterministic, high-speed searches by using simultaneous parallel operation to compare data strings input from an external device with data strings stored in the memory and outputting the matches. TCAMs are used for increasing the speed of packet forwarding (packet data transfers) by enabling high-speed lookup of destinations for large volumes of information during packet data transfers. The first TCAM in the series uses the company's patented CAM and search circuits for a high-speed search capability combined with ultra-low -power consumption. Flexible search conditions allow the search bit length to be set to 40L/H, 80, 160, 320, 480, or 640bits. In addition, functions such as four parallel independent search engines increase lookup performance and support a range of network applications. The first TCAM to be introduced allows expansion up to 40Mbit through cascade connections. The package is a 576-pin flip chip BGA measuring 27x27mm. It is designed to seamlessly interwork with NPUs and will be interoperable with Xelerated's HX family of network processors.
