AbstractPIM: Bridging the Gap between Processing-In-Memory Technology and Instruction Set Architecture

Adi Eliahu, Rotem Ben-Hur, Ronny Ronen, Shahar Kvatinsky

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The von Neumann architecture, in which the memory and the computation units are separated, demands massive data traffic between the memory and the CPU. To reduce data movement, new technologies and computer architectures have been explored. The use of memristors, which are devices with both memory and computation capabilities, has been considered for different processing-in-memory (PIM) solutions, including using memristive stateful logic for a programmable digital PIM system. Nevertheless, all previous work has focused on a specific stateful logic family, and on optimizing the execution for a certain target machine. These solutions require new compiler and compilation when changing the target machine, and provide no backward compatibility with other target machines. In this paper, we present abstractPIM, a new compilation concept and flow which enables executing any function within the memory, using different stateful logic families and different instruction set architectures (ISAs). By separating the code generation into two independent components, intermediate representation of the code using target independent ISA and then microcode generation for a specific target machine, we provide a flexible flow with backward compatibility and lay foundations for a PIM compiler. Using abstractPIM, we explore various logic technologies and ISAs and how they impact each other, and discuss the challenges associated with it, such as the increase in execution time.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2020 IFIP/IEEE 28th International Conference on Very Large Scale Integration, VLSI-SOC 2020
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages28-33
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781728154091
DOIs
StatePublished - 5 Oct 2020
Externally publishedYes
Event28th IFIP/IEEE International Conference on Very Large Scale Integration, VLSI-SOC 2020 - Salt Lake City, United States
Duration: 5 Oct 20207 Oct 2020

Publication series

NameIEEE/IFIP International Conference on VLSI and System-on-Chip, VLSI-SoC
Volume2020-October
ISSN (Print)2324-8432
ISSN (Electronic)2324-8440

Conference

Conference28th IFIP/IEEE International Conference on Very Large Scale Integration, VLSI-SOC 2020
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySalt Lake City
Period5/10/207/10/20

Keywords

  • ISA
  • Memristor
  • RRAM
  • processing-in-memory
  • stateful logic

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Software
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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