COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: RECONFIGURABLE COMPUTING USING 2D NANOSCALE MEMORY ARRAY FOR MULTIMEDIA SIGNAL PROCESSING

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Lead Proposal ECCS-1002237 Swarup Bhunia, Case Western Reserve UniversityNon-Lead Proposal ECCS-1002090Saibal Mukhopadhyay, Georgia Institute of TechnologyCollaborative Research: Reconfigurable Computing Using 2D Nanoscale Memory Array for Multimedia Signal ProcessingABSTRACTIntellectual Merit: This collaborative research project explores a scalable reconfigurable computing platform for Multimedia Signal Processing (MSP) applications using integrated two-dimensional volatile or non-volatile memory array as the primary computing element. The platform, referred to as Memory Based Multimedia Signal Processing (MBMSP), leverages on the fact that both nanoscale silicon as well as regular and periodic structures of many emerging nanoscale devices are amenable to dense, high-performance memory design. In MBMSP, algorithmic tasks are functionally decomposed into multi-input, multi-output functions, which are then mapped as lookup tables in a memory array and evaluated in a time-multiplexed, topological fashion using a small controller. This fundamentally different approach to information processing can be effective in developing a scalable platform with high-performance, reconfigurability, energy-efficiency and reliability for diverse and complex signal processing systems. The research seeks to develop circuit-µ-architecture-software co-design approach for MBMSP including software architecture to improve performance and scalability; circuit-µ-architecture techniques for memory cell and array to achieve low-power and robustness; software-hardware co-design approach for energy and reliability; and a Spin-Torque-Transfer Random Access Memory (STTRAM) based platform for scaling MBMSP to deep nanometer nodes.Broader Impacts: The MBMSP platform can potentially transform the traditional approach to design multimedia signal processing system. The research will integrate education through course module development and undergraduate research projects. The teaching modules will be adapted for the local high-school students, including about 40% minority/under-represented students, who join the pre-college program at Case Western Reserve University every summer. The modules will focus on hands-on learning approaches for multimedia/digital signal processing systems and new ways to design them. PIs will continue their involvement with Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science for African-American (FACES) and Summer Undergraduate Research Experience for minorities (SURE). PIs will mentor one SURE student every summer and involve them in the proposed research.