R&D: Survey of MRAM-Centric Computing, From Near Memory to In Memory

IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing has published an article written by Yueting Li, Tianshuo Bai, Xinyi Xu, School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China, Fert Beijing Institute, Beihang University, Beijing, China, and MIIT Key Laboratory for Spintronics, Beihang University, Beijing, China, Yundong Zhang, National Key Laboratory on Digital Multimedia Chip Technology, Vimicro Corporation, Beijing, China, Bi Wu, College of Electronic and Information Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China, Hao Cai, National ASIC System Engineering Center, Southeast University, Nanjing, China, Biao Pan, and Weisheng Zhao, School of Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China, Fert Beijing Institute, Beihang University, Beijing, China, and MIIT Key Laboratory for Spintronics, Beihang University, Beijing, China.

Abstract: “Conventional von Neumann architecture suffers from bottlenecks in computing performance and power consumption due to frequent data exchange between memory and processing units. To overcome this issue, research on novel computing architectures including near-memory computing (NMC) and in-memory computing (IMC) has been accelerated based on emerging nonvolatile memory devices. Among various potential candidates, spintronic-based magnetic random-access memory (MRAM) has come into a research and development hotspot by its ultralow switching energy, nonvolatility, and superior endurance. This paper outlines the background, trends, and challenges involved in the development of MRAM-centric computing, and highlights the recent prototypes and advances in applications based on MRAM-NMC and MRAM-IMC.“