SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE FOR EXECUTING FUZZY INTERFERENCE AND METHOD OF OPERATION THEREOF

A device for executing fuzzy inference includes a first storage area constituting a condition portion of a fuzzy set and a second storage area constituting a conclusion portion of the fuzzy set. The first storage area stores membership functions of the condition portion in order to develop a first bit mapping while the second storage area stores membership functions of the conclusion portion in order to develop a second bit mapping. Each of the first and second storage areas has X addresses which are designated by an input signal and Y addresses which are designated by a membership value. The device further includes circuitry for detecting corresponding rows of the first and second storage areas on which signal potentials are both a logical true after application of input signals to the first and second storage areas, other circuitry for detecting a Y address specifying a highest-order row among the detected rows, and additional circuitry for deriving a membership value in accordance with the detected Y address. The first and second storage areas preferably each include an array of content addressable memory cells having X addresses applied by an input pattern. A row detecting circuit detects coincidence/non-coincidence of signal potentials on coincidence detection lines of the content addressable memory cell arrays. The construction realizes a device for executing a fuzzy inference which is not limited by the number of rules or inputs and executes MIN-MAX operations at a high speed.