MagCiM: A Flexible and Non-Volatile Computing-in-Memory Processor for Energy-Efficient Logic Computation

IEEE Access

Vahid Jamshidi¹  Ahmad Patooghy²  Mahdi Fazeli³ 

[1] Department of Computer Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman (SBUK), Kerman, Iran;Department of Computer Systems Technology, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, NC, USA;Department of Information Technology, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden;

关键词: Magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ);    computation-in-memory (CIM);    memory bottleneck;    non-volatile memory;   

DOI  :  10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3159967

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This paper presents a high-performance and energy efficient processor exploiting a Magnetoresistive-based Computing-in-Memory array architecture (so-called MagCiM processor), to perform Boolean logic functions on operands stored in a memory array. The proposed processor efficiently addresses the memory wall and the leakage power consumption problems in conventional processors. The MagCiM processor utilizes mCell memory, a class of Magnetoresistive memory employing only Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) devices, to realize both computation-in-memory and on-chip instruction and data memories. The mCell memory is characterized by almost zero leakage power, high integration density, high level of reliability, and compatibility with the CMOS VLSI fabrication process. The circuit-level simulation results through comparisons with the previous work reveal that the MagCiM processor provides low occupation area, low power, and energy consumption and offers Normally-off instant-on computing capability, which makes it very suitable for embedded system applications. Based on our evaluations, a conventional processor based on the well-known MIPS architecture consumes about 13 times more energy while having 1.5 times more delay than the MagCiM processor.

【 授权许可】

Unknown