Hamming Distance Tolerant Content-Addressable Memory (HD-CAM) for Approximate Matching Applications

Abstract: We propose a novel Hamming distance tolerant content-addressable memory (HD-CAM) for energy-efficient in memory approximate matching applications. HD-CAM implements approximate search using matchline charge redistribution rather than its rise or fall time, frequently employed in state of-the-art solutions. HD-CAM was designed in a 65 nm 1.2 V CMOS technology and evaluated through extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Our analysis shows that HD-CAM supports robust operation under significant process variations and changes in the design parameters, enabling a wide range of mismatch threshold (tolerable Hamming distance) levels and pattern lengths. HD-CAM was functionally evaluated for virus DNA classification, which makes HD-CAM suitable for hardware acceleration of genomic surveillance of viral outbreaks such as Covid-19 pandemics.