Pattern-Recognition Processor Block Disabling for Power Management

The patent divides the pattern recognition system into multiple banks of content addressable memory (CAM) circuits, where each bank handles a subset of patterns. This segmentation allows parallel processing of multiple patterns while enabling selective activation of only the necessary banks, thereby maintaining high pattern recognition performance while reducing overall power consumption compared to having all circuits active simultaneously.

The system dynamically activates or deactivates specific CAM banks based on the current search requirements. When searching for patterns in a data stream, only the CAM banks containing relevant patterns are activated, while others remain inactive. This dynamic activation strategy maintains high recognition performance for active patterns while significantly reducing power consumption by keeping inactive banks in a low-power state.

By segmenting the pattern recognition system into multiple independent CAM banks, the patent enables spatial distribution of heat generation. Each bank generates heat locally, but the overall heat load is distributed across multiple smaller units rather than concentrated in a single large array, facilitating more effective heat dissipation while maintaining parallel processing performance.

The dynamic activation of CAM banks directly controls heat generation by ensuring that only the necessary portion of the system is active at any given time. This reduces the total heat generated proportionally to the number of active banks, making thermal management more manageable while preserving pattern recognition performance for the active patterns.

The patent segments the pattern set into multiple CAM banks that can be activated in parallel. This allows the system to process multiple patterns simultaneously rather than sequentially, reducing processing delay while maintaining controlled power consumption through selective activation of only the necessary banks for the current search task.

Each CAM bank is designed to be universally capable of pattern matching, and multiple banks can be activated simultaneously to handle different patterns. This multi-functionality enables the system to achieve parallel processing of multiple patterns without requiring dedicated hardware for each pattern, thus reducing delay while controlling power consumption through selective activation.