US Patent 7203083 Longest match detection in a CAM

An apparatus and method for a CAM priority match detection circuit that identifies one or more CAM words from a group of CAM words having a “longest match” that matches the bits in a corresponding comparand register. A decoder uses n input lines and m complement lines to generate 2.sup.n outputs, wherein only one of the outputs will be active. A priority setting circuit resolves an initial matching operation to supply priority values to CAM words, and a priority resolving circuit processes the priority values to determine an overall priority for a group of CAM words.