Memristive devices for computing: Beyond CMOS and beyond von Neumann

Abstract

Traditional CMOS technology and its continuous down-scaling have been the driving force to improve performance of existing computer architectures. Today, however, both technology and computer architectures are facing challenges that make them incapable of delivering the growing computing performance requirement at pre-defined constraints. This forces the exploration of both novel architectures and technologies; not only to maintain the economic profit of technology scaling, but also to enable the computing architecture solutions for big-data and data-intensive applications. This paper discusses the emerging memristive device as a complement (or an alternative) to CMOS devices and shows how such devices enable novel computing paradigms that will solve the challenges of today's architectures for certain applications. The paper covers not only the potential of memristor devices in enabling novel memory technologies, logic design styles, and arithmetic operations, but also their potential in enabling in-memory computing and neuromorphic computing.