When to forget: A system-level perspective on STT-RAMs

Karthik Swaminathan, Raghav Pisolkar, Cong Xu, Vijaykrishnan Narayanan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

The benefits of using STT-RAMs as an alternative to SRAMs are being examined in great detail. However their comparatively higher write latencies and energies continue to be roadblocks for migrating to MRAM based technology in memory hierarchies. In this paper, we present a novel method by which we demonstrate significant energy reduction in writing to the STT-RAM cell by relaxing its non-volatility property. We exploit this characteristic for optimizing system-level properties such as garbage collection. By categorizing the objects based on their lifetimes it is possible to tune the data retention time of the STT-RAM to minimize the write energy. Our scheme yielded 37% reduction in dynamic energy, 88% reduction in leakage and 85% improvement in the Energy-Delay Product over a corresponding SRAM based memory structure.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationASP-DAC 2012 - 17th Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference
Pages311-316
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 26 2012
Event17th Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference, ASP-DAC 2012 - Sydney, NSW, Australia
Duration: Jan 30 2012Feb 2 2012

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference, ASP-DAC

Other

Other17th Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference, ASP-DAC 2012
Country/TerritoryAustralia
CitySydney, NSW
Period1/30/122/2/12

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Computer Science Applications
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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