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Exploring the Feasibility of Using 3DXPoint as an InMemory Computing Accelerator (arxiv.org)
3 points by freemint on Aug 7, 2022 | hide | past | pdf | discuss on HN

In plain words: 3D XPoint memory can do the multiply-and-threshold math behind machine learning inside the array, so data never leaves; several arrays can link into a neural-network inference engine. Noise in the array's own wiring caps subarray size, and the study estimates that maximum.

Abstract · Exploring the Feasibility of Using 3D XPoint as an In-Memory Computing Accelerator

This paper describes how 3D XPoint memory arrays can be used as in-memory computing accelerators. We first show that thresholded matrix-vector multiplication (TMVM), the fundamental computational kernel in many applications including machine learning, can be implemented within a 3D XPoint array without requiring data to leave the array for processing. Using the implementation of TMVM, we then discuss the implementation of a binary neural inference engine. We discuss the application of the core concept to address issues such as system scalability, where we connect multiple 3D XPoint arrays, and power integrity, where we analyze the parasitic effects of metal lines on noise margins. To assure power integrity within the 3D XPoint array during this implementation, we carefully analyze the parasitic effects of metal lines on the accuracy of the implementations. We quantify the impact of parasitics on limiting the size and configuration of a 3D XPoint array, and estimate the maximum acceptable size of a 3D XPoint subarray.

Masoud Zabihi, Salonik Resch, Husrev Cılasun, Zamshed I. Chowdhury, Zhengyang Zhao, Ulya R. Karpuzcu, Jian-Ping Wang, Sachin S. Sapatnekar
arXiv:2106.08402 · cs.AR · submitted Jun 15, 2021
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