A Modern Primer on Processing in Memory

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Mutlu, Onur, Ghose, Saugata, Gómez-Luna, Juan, Ausavarungnirun, Rachata, Sadrosadati, Mohammad, Oliveira, Geraldo F.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2020
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author Mutlu, Onur
Ghose, Saugata
Gómez-Luna, Juan
Ausavarungnirun, Rachata
Sadrosadati, Mohammad
Oliveira, Geraldo F.
author_facet Mutlu, Onur
Ghose, Saugata
Gómez-Luna, Juan
Ausavarungnirun, Rachata
Sadrosadati, Mohammad
Oliveira, Geraldo F.
contents This paper discusses recent research that aims to enable computation close to data, an approach we broadly call processing-in-memory (PIM). PIM places computation mechanisms in or near where the data is stored (i.e., inside memory chips or modules, in the logic layer of 3D-stacked memory, in the memory controllers, in storage devices or chips), so that data movement between the computation units and memory/storage units is reduced or eliminated. While the general idea of PIM is not new, we discuss motivating trends in applications as well as memory circuits and technology that greatly exacerbate the need for enabling it in modern computing systems. We examine at least two promising new approaches to designing PIM systems to accelerate important data-intensive applications: (1) processing-using-memory, which exploits fundamental analog operational principles of memory chips to perform massively-parallel operations in-situ in memory, (2) processing-near-memory, which exploits different logic and memory integration technologies (e.g., 3D-stacked memory technology) to place computation logic close to memory circuitry, and thereby enable high-bandwidth, low-energy, and low-latency access to data. In both approaches, we describe and tackle relevant cross-layer research, design, and adoption challenges in devices, architecture, systems, compilers, programming models, and applications. Our focus is on the development of PIM designs that can be adopted in real computing platforms at low cost. We conclude by discussing work on solving key challenges to the practical adoption of PIM. We believe that the shift from a processor-centric to a memory-centric mindset (and infrastructure) remains the largest adoption challenge for PIM, which, once overcome, can unleash a fundamentally energy-efficient, high-performance, and sustainable new way of designing, using, and programming computing systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2012_03112
institution arXiv
publishDate 2020
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Modern Primer on Processing in Memory
Mutlu, Onur
Ghose, Saugata
Gómez-Luna, Juan
Ausavarungnirun, Rachata
Sadrosadati, Mohammad
Oliveira, Geraldo F.
Hardware Architecture
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
This paper discusses recent research that aims to enable computation close to data, an approach we broadly call processing-in-memory (PIM). PIM places computation mechanisms in or near where the data is stored (i.e., inside memory chips or modules, in the logic layer of 3D-stacked memory, in the memory controllers, in storage devices or chips), so that data movement between the computation units and memory/storage units is reduced or eliminated. While the general idea of PIM is not new, we discuss motivating trends in applications as well as memory circuits and technology that greatly exacerbate the need for enabling it in modern computing systems. We examine at least two promising new approaches to designing PIM systems to accelerate important data-intensive applications: (1) processing-using-memory, which exploits fundamental analog operational principles of memory chips to perform massively-parallel operations in-situ in memory, (2) processing-near-memory, which exploits different logic and memory integration technologies (e.g., 3D-stacked memory technology) to place computation logic close to memory circuitry, and thereby enable high-bandwidth, low-energy, and low-latency access to data. In both approaches, we describe and tackle relevant cross-layer research, design, and adoption challenges in devices, architecture, systems, compilers, programming models, and applications. Our focus is on the development of PIM designs that can be adopted in real computing platforms at low cost. We conclude by discussing work on solving key challenges to the practical adoption of PIM. We believe that the shift from a processor-centric to a memory-centric mindset (and infrastructure) remains the largest adoption challenge for PIM, which, once overcome, can unleash a fundamentally energy-efficient, high-performance, and sustainable new way of designing, using, and programming computing systems.
title A Modern Primer on Processing in Memory
topic Hardware Architecture
Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.03112