Q. Explain about Associative Memory Organisations?

The associative memory is arranged in w words with b bits per word. In w x b array, every bit is known as a cell. Every cell is made up of a flip-flop which comprises some comparison logic gates for read-write operations and pattern match. So it is possible to write or read concurrently because of this logic structure. A set of bit cells of all the words at the same place in vertical column is termed as bit slice as displayed in Figure below.

Figure: Associative memory

In organisation of an associative memory subsequent registers are used:

• Comparand Register (C): This register is used to hold operands that are being searched for or being compared with.

• Masking Register (M): It might be possible all bit slices are not involved in parallel operations. Masking register is used to disable or enable bit slices.

• Temporary (T) and Indicator (I) Registers: Indicator register is used to hold the current match patterns and temporary registers are used to hold the prior match patterns.