GSI Technology, Inc.
One by one selection of items of a set

Abstract:

A method and a system for selecting items one by one from a set of items in an associative memory array includes determining a density of the set, if the density is sparse, repeatedly performing an extreme item select (EIS) method to select a next one of the elected items from the set and removing the next one from the set to create a next set, and if the density is not sparse, performing a next index select (NIS) method to create a linked list of the elected items and to repeatedly select a next elected item from the set. An associative memory array includes a plurality of associative memory cells arranged in rows and columns where each first cell in a first row and in a first column has access to a content of a second cell in a second row in an adjacent column.