OpenGCRAM: An Open-Source Gain Cell Compiler Enabling Design-Space Exploration for AI Workloads

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Wang, Xinxin, Yan, Lixian, Liu, Shuhan, Upton, Luke, Cai, Zhuoqi, Tan, Yiming, Li, Shengman, Jana, Koustav, Li, Peijing, Cirimelli-Low, Jesse, Tambe, Thierry, Guthaus, Matthew, Wong, H. -S. Philip
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Wang, Xinxin
Yan, Lixian
Liu, Shuhan
Upton, Luke
Cai, Zhuoqi
Tan, Yiming
Li, Shengman
Jana, Koustav
Li, Peijing
Cirimelli-Low, Jesse
Tambe, Thierry
Guthaus, Matthew
Wong, H. -S. Philip
author_facet Wang, Xinxin
Yan, Lixian
Liu, Shuhan
Upton, Luke
Cai, Zhuoqi
Tan, Yiming
Li, Shengman
Jana, Koustav
Li, Peijing
Cirimelli-Low, Jesse
Tambe, Thierry
Guthaus, Matthew
Wong, H. -S. Philip
contents Gain Cell memory (GCRAM) offers higher density and lower power than SRAM, making it a promising candidate for on-chip memory in domain-specific accelerators. To support workloads with varying traffic and lifetime metrics, GCRAM also offers high bandwidth, ultra low leakage power and a wide range of retention times, which can be adjusted through transistor design (like threshold voltage and channel material) and on-the-fly by changing the operating voltage. However, designing and optimizing GCRAM sub-systems can be time-consuming. In this paper, we present OpenGCRAM, an open-source GCRAM compiler capable of generating GCRAM bank circuit designs and DRC- and LVS-clean layouts for commercially available foundry CMOS, while also providing area, delay, and power simulations based on user-specified configurations (e.g., word size and number of words). OpenGCRAM enables fast, accurate, customizable, and optimized GCRAM block generation, reduces design time, ensure process compliance, and delivers performance-tailored memory blocks that meet diverse application requirements.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_10849
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle OpenGCRAM: An Open-Source Gain Cell Compiler Enabling Design-Space Exploration for AI Workloads
Wang, Xinxin
Yan, Lixian
Liu, Shuhan
Upton, Luke
Cai, Zhuoqi
Tan, Yiming
Li, Shengman
Jana, Koustav
Li, Peijing
Cirimelli-Low, Jesse
Tambe, Thierry
Guthaus, Matthew
Wong, H. -S. Philip
Hardware Architecture
Systems and Control
Gain Cell memory (GCRAM) offers higher density and lower power than SRAM, making it a promising candidate for on-chip memory in domain-specific accelerators. To support workloads with varying traffic and lifetime metrics, GCRAM also offers high bandwidth, ultra low leakage power and a wide range of retention times, which can be adjusted through transistor design (like threshold voltage and channel material) and on-the-fly by changing the operating voltage. However, designing and optimizing GCRAM sub-systems can be time-consuming. In this paper, we present OpenGCRAM, an open-source GCRAM compiler capable of generating GCRAM bank circuit designs and DRC- and LVS-clean layouts for commercially available foundry CMOS, while also providing area, delay, and power simulations based on user-specified configurations (e.g., word size and number of words). OpenGCRAM enables fast, accurate, customizable, and optimized GCRAM block generation, reduces design time, ensure process compliance, and delivers performance-tailored memory blocks that meet diverse application requirements.
title OpenGCRAM: An Open-Source Gain Cell Compiler Enabling Design-Space Exploration for AI Workloads
topic Hardware Architecture
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10849