AM06: the Associative Memory chip for the Fast TracKer in the upgraded ATLAS detector

This paper describes the AM06 chip, a highly parallel processor for pattern recognition in high energy physics. AM06 contains memory banks that store up to 2^17 patterns made up of 8x18 bit words and integrates SER/DES IP blocks for 2.4 Gb/s IO to avoid routing congestion. AM06 combines custom memory arrays, standard logic cells and IP blocks within a 168 mm^2 silicon area with 421 million transistors and can perform bitwise comparisons at 1.6 Pbit/s, consuming ~2 fJ/bit per comparison thanks to the optimized design based on the XORAM cells.