US-12626758-B2 - Compare circuitry for a fast and glitchless compare in memory

Abstract

A compare circuitry that can be implemented in a memory circuit includes: selection logic coupled to a sense amplifier of the memory circuit, the selection logic structured to receive a sense amplifier enable signal, a column output from the sense amplifier, and a column output bar from the sense amplifier, wherein the selection logic is structured to pass through the column output and the column output bar when the sense amplifier enable signal is active and hold the column output and the column output bar at a same value when the sense amplifier enable signal is inactive; and an XNOR gate structured to receive the column output and the column output bar passed through the selection logic, a data input, and a data input bar and output a bit compare output.

Inventors

• Edward Martin McCombs, JR.
• Akshay Kumar

Assignees

• ARM LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240530

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A memory circuit for performing a compare in memory, the memory circuit comprising: a memory array; read circuitry coupled to columns of the memory array, the read circuitry comprising a sense amplifier; and a compare circuitry comprising: selection logic coupled to the sense amplifier, the selection logic structured to receive a sense amplifier enable signal, a column output from the sense amplifier, and a column output bar from the sense amplifier, wherein the selection logic is structured to pass through the column output and the column output bar when the sense amplifier enable signal is active and hold the column output and the column output bar at a same value when the sense amplifier enable signal is inactive; and an XNOR gate structured to receive the column output and the column output bar passed through the selection logic, a data input, and a data input bar and output a bit compare output.
2. 2 . The memory circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a logic gate coupled to receive the bit compare output of the XNOR gate.
3. 3 . The memory circuit of claim 2 , wherein the logic gate is a NAND gate.
4. 4 . The memory circuit of claim 3 , wherein the NAND gate receives outputs from a set of XNOR gates that includes the XNOR gate, each XNOR gate of the set of XNOR gates structured to receive a corresponding column output and corresponding column output bar from a corresponding selection logic, corresponding data input, and corresponding data input bar and output a corresponding bit compare output.
5. 5 . The memory circuit of claim 4 , further comprising a pulsed latch circuit coupled to an output of the NAND gate, wherein the pulsed latch circuit is structured to capture the output from the NAND gate when the sense amplifier enable signal is active.
6. 6 . The memory circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a clock-controlled storage unit that is structured to provide the data input and the data input bar to the XNOR gate, the clock-controlled storage unit being structured to receive a data bit for comparison by the compare circuitry.
7. 7 . The memory circuit of claim 1 , wherein the selection logic comprises: two NOR gates, wherein: a first NOR gate of the two NOR gates is coupled to the column output bar from the sense amplifier and a signal line of a sense amplifier enable bar, the first NOR gate allowing the column output from the sense amplifier to pass through when the sense amplifier enable signal is active otherwise outputting a zero; and a second NOR gate of the two NOR gates is coupled to the column output from the sense amplifier and the signal line of the sense amplifier enable bar, the second NOR gate allowing the column output bar from the sense amplifier to pass through when the sense amplifier enable signal is active, otherwise outputting a zero.
8. 8 . The memory circuit of claim 1 , wherein the data input is a tag bit of an address for lookup and the column output is a stored tag bit.
9. 9 . A compare circuitry comprising: selection logic coupled to a sense amplifier of a memory circuit, the selection logic structured to receive a sense amplifier enable signal, a column output from the sense amplifier, and a column output bar from the sense amplifier, wherein the selection logic is structured to pass through the column output and the column output bar when the sense amplifier enable signal is active and hold the column output and the column output bar at a same value when the sense amplifier enable signal is inactive; and an XNOR gate structured to receive the column output and the column output bar passed through the selection logic, a data input, and a data input bar and output a bit compare output.
10. 10 . The compare circuitry of claim 9 , further comprising a NAND gate coupled to receive the bit compare output of the XNOR gate.
11. 11 . The compare circuitry of claim 10 , wherein the NAND gate receives outputs from a set of XNOR gates that includes the XNOR gate, each XNOR gate of the set of XNOR gates structured to receive a corresponding column output and corresponding column output bar from a corresponding selection logic, corresponding data input, and corresponding data input bar and output a corresponding bit compare output.
12. 12 . The compare circuitry of claim 11 , further comprising a pulsed latch circuit coupled to an output of the NAND gate, wherein the pulsed latch circuit is structured to capture the output from the NAND gate when the sense amplifier enable signal is active.
13. 13 . The compare circuitry of claim 9 , further comprising a clock-controlled storage unit that is structured to provide the data input and the data input bar to the XNOR gate, the clock-controlled storage unit being structured to receive a data bit for comparison by the compare circuitry.
14. 14 . The compare circuitry of claim 9 , wherein the selection logic comprises: two NOR gates, wherein: a first NOR gate of the two NOR gates is coupled to the column output bar from the sense amplifier and a signal line of a sense amplifier enable bar, the first NOR gate allowing the column output from the sense amplifier to pass through when the sense amplifier enable signal is active otherwise outputting a zero; and a second NOR gate of the two NOR gates is coupled to the column output from the sense amplifier and the signal line of the sense amplifier enable bar, the second NOR gate allowing the column output bar from the sense amplifier to pass through when the sense amplifier enable signal is active, otherwise outputting a zero.
15. 15 . A method of performing a compare in memory, the method comprising: receiving, at a memory circuit, an address for lookup and a data input for comparing to stored data, wherein the memory circuit comprises a memory array, read circuitry coupled to columns of the memory array; and a compare circuitry coupled to the read circuitry; providing a sense amplifier enable signal and column select signals of the address for lookup to the read circuitry; and comparing stored data from the address for lookup with the data input, wherein the comparing comprises: providing the sense amplifier enable signal to selection logic of the compare circuitry, wherein the selection logic is structured receive the sense amplifier enable signal, a column output from a sense amplifier of the read circuitry, and a column output bar from the sense amplifier, the selection logic being further structured to pass through the column output and the column output bar when the sense amplifier enable signal is active and hold the column output and the column output bar at a same value when the sense amplifier enable signal is inactive; and providing the data input to an XNOR gate that is structured to receive the column output comparing the data input and the column output bar passed through the selection logic, the data input, and a data input bar, the XNOR gate being structured to output a bit compare output.
16. 16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising: providing the sense amplifier enable signal to a pulsed latch circuit, wherein the pulsed latch circuit is coupled to an output of a NAND gate that is structured to receive the bit compare output of the XNOR gate, wherein the pulsed latch circuit is structured to capture the output of the NAND gate when the sense amplifier enable signal is active.
17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the NAND gate receives outputs from a set of XNOR gates that includes the XNOR gate, each XNOR gate of the set of XNOR gates structured to receive a corresponding column output and corresponding column output bar from a corresponding selection logic, corresponding data input, and corresponding data input bar and outputs a corresponding bit compare output.
18. 18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising: providing a clock signal and the data input to a storage unit structured to provide the data input and the data input bar to the XNOR gate.
19. 19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the selection logic comprises: two NOR gates, wherein: a first NOR gate of the two NOR gates is coupled to the column output bar from the sense amplifier and a signal line of a sense amplifier enable bar, the first NOR gate allowing the column output from the sense amplifier to pass through when the sense amplifier enable signal is active otherwise outputting a zero; and a second NOR gate of the two NOR gates is coupled to the column output from the sense amplifier and the signal line of the sense amplifier enable bar, the second NOR gate allowing the column output bar from the sense amplifier to pass through when the sense amplifier enable signal is active, otherwise outputting a zero.
20. 20 . The method of claim 15 , wherein: when the data input is zero and the column output is one, the XNOR gate output falls through a stack of two, and the compare output goes high by rising through a stack of one; when the data input is one and the column output bar is one, the XNOR gate output falls through the stack of two and the compare output goes high by rising through a stack of one; when the data input is zero and column output bar is one, the XNOR gate output stays high and the compare output stays low, indicating a hit; when the data input is one and column output is one, the XNOR gate output stays high and the compare output stays low, indicating a hit.

Description

BACKGROUND Compare circuitry refers to the various digital logic circuits that can be used to compare the binary values of two or more bits to each other. One type of compare circuitry is an equality comparator, which checks for whether inputs are equal to each other. That is, an equality comparator produces an output indicating whether the binary values of the input bits are equal to each other (e.g., producing a 1 if the inputs are both 1s or both 0s). The XNOR gate is a logic gate that can be used as an equality comparator. An equality comparator is a common compare circuitry used in computing hardware, for example, for performing memory address lookups from a tag memory. In such applications, a tag portion of an address for lookup is compared to the tag portions of the addresses stored in the tag memory to determine a hit (or miss). Circuit performance along critical paths, pipeline latency, and power consumption are areas in a circuit design that are of interest for optimization. Accordingly, each aspect of a circuit's design, including a circuit design's compare circuitry, can benefit from such optimization. BRIEF SUMMARY Compare circuitry for a fast and glitchless compare in memory is provided. Incorporating compare circuitry in memory is beneficial for speeding up operations involving comparisons as well as for reducing power consumption. Indeed, the described compare circuitry provides speed optimization by its design and topology. Further, the described compare circuitry enables an output of the comparison only when a sense amplifier enable signal for the memory is active, which minimizes glitching power. As such, embodiments of the described compare circuitry are suitable for generating a hit/miss signal for tag lookup. The fast and glitchless compare provided within a memory circuit can generate an output, e.g., a hit/miss signal, inside memory quickly with minimum glitching power. A memory circuit for performing a compare in memory can include: a memory array; read circuitry coupled to columns of the memory array, the read circuitry including a sense amplifier; and a compare circuitry including: selection logic coupled to the sense amplifier, the selection logic structured to receive a sense amplifier enable signal, a column output from the sense amplifier, and a column output bar from the sense amplifier, wherein the selection logic is structured to pass through the column output and the column output bar when the sense amplifier enable signal is active and hold the column output and the column output bar at a same value when the sense amplifier enable signal is inactive; and an XNOR gate structured to receive the column output and the column output bar passed through the selection logic, a data input, and a data input bar and output a bit compare output. A method of performing a compare in memory can include: receiving, at a memory circuit, an address for lookup and a data input for comparing to stored data, wherein the memory circuit includes a memory array, read circuitry coupled to columns of the memory array; and a compare circuitry coupled to the read circuitry; providing a sense amplifier enable signal and column select signals of the address for lookup to the read circuitry; and comparing stored data from the address for lookup with the data input, wherein the comparing includes: providing the sense amplifier enable signal to selection logic of the compare circuitry, wherein the selection logic is structured receive the sense amplifier enable signal, a column output from a sense amplifier of the read circuitry, and a column output bar from the sense amplifier, the selection logic being further structured to pass through the column output and the column output bar when the sense amplifier enable signal is active and hold the column output and the column output bar at a same value when the sense amplifier enable signal is inactive; and providing the data input to an XNOR gate that is structured to receive the column output comparing the data input and the column output bar passed through the selection logic, the data input, and a data input bar, the XNOR gate being structured to output a bit compare output. A compare circuitry that can be used for a fast and glitchless compare can include selection logic coupled to a sense amplifier of a memory circuit, the selection logic structured to receive a sense amplifier enable signal, a column output from the sense amplifier, and a column output bar from the sense amplifier, wherein the selection logic is structured to pass through the column output and the column output bar when the sense amplifier enable signal is active and hold the column output and the column output bar at a same value when the sense amplifier enable signal is inactive; and an XNOR gate structured to receive the column output and the column output bar passed through the selection logic, a data input, and a data input bar and output a bit compare output. This Summary is prov