In-Memory Computing on Resistive RAM Systems Using Majority Operation

Abstract

Memristors can be used to build nonvolatile memory systems with in-memory computing (IMC) capabilities. A number of prior works demonstrate the design of an IMC-capable memory macro using a memristor crossbar. However, read disturbance limits the use of such memory systems built using a 0-transistor, 1-RRAM (0T1R) structure that suffers from the sneak path problem. In this paper, we introduce a scheme for both memory and logic operations using the 1-transistor, 1-RRAM (1T1R) memristor crossbar, which effectively mitigates the read disturbance problem. The memory array is designed using nMOS transistors and the VTEAM memristor model. The peripheral circuitry like decoders, voltage multiplexers, and sense amplifiers is designed using a 45[Formula: see text]nm CMOS technology node. We introduce a mapping technique to realize arbitrary logic functions using Majority (MAJ) gate operations in the 1T1R crossbar. Through extensive experimentation on benchmark functions, it has been found that the proposed mapping method gives an improvement of 65% or more in terms of the number of time steps required, and 59% or more in terms of energy consumption as compared to some of the recent methods.