In-depth Characterization of Resistive Memory-Based Ternary Content Addressable Memories

D. R. B. Ly (1) , B. Giraud (1) , J-P Noel (1) , A. Grossi (1) , N. Castellani (1) , G. Sassine (1) , J-F Nodin (1) , G. Molas (1) , C. Fenouillet-Beranger (1) , G. Indiveri (2) , E. Nowak (1) , E. Vianello (1)

1 CEA-LETI - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - Laboratoire d'Electronique et de Technologie de l'Information
2 INI - Institute of Neuroinformatics [Zürich]

Resistive Memory (RRAM)-based Ternary Content Addressable Memories (TCAMs) were developed to reduce cell area, search energy and standby power consumption beyond what can be achieved by SRAM-based TCAMs. In previous works, RRAM-based TCAMs have already been fabricated, but the impact of RRAM reliability on TCAM performance has never been proven until now. In this work, we fabricated and extensively tested a RRAM-based TCAM circuit. We show that a trade-off exists between search latency and reliability in terms of match/mismatch detection and search/read endurance, and that a RRAM-based TCAM is an ideal building block in multi-core neuromorphic architectures. These ones would not be affected by long latency time and limited write endurance, and could greatly benefit from their high-density and zero standby power consumption.

Domaines: Micro et nanotechnologies/Microélectronique; Technologies Émergeantes [cs.ET]; Architectures Matérielles [cs.AR]; Réseau de neurones [cs.NE]

D. R. B. Ly, B. Giraud, J-P Noel, A. Grossi, N. Castellani, et al.. In-depth Characterization of Resistive Memory-Based Ternary Content Addressable Memories. 2018 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM 2018), IEEE, Dec 2018, San Francisco, CA, United States. pp.20.3.1-20.3.4, ⟨10.1109/IEDM.2018.8614603⟩. ⟨hal-02939330⟩