Next generation Associative Memory devices for the FTK tracking processor of the ATLAS experiment

The AMchip is a VLSI device that implements the Associative Memory function, a special content addressable memory specifically designed for high energy physics applications and first used in the CDF experiment at Tevatron. The 4th generation of AMchip has been developed for the core pattern recognition stage of the Fast TracKer (FTK) processor: a hardware processor for online reconstruction of particle trajectories at the ATLAS experiment at LHC. We present the architecture, design considerations, power consumption and performance measurements of the 4th generation of AMchip. We present also the design innovations toward the 5th generation and the first prototype results.