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A Modern Primer on Processing in Memory

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arxiv 2012.03112 v5 pith:3HUO7TU3 submitted 2020-12-05 cs.AR cs.DC

classification cs.ARcs.DC
keywords memorycomputationdatasystemsadoptionapplicationschipscomputing
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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This paper discusses recent research that aims to enable computation close to data, an approach we broadly call processing-in-memory (PIM). PIM places computation mechanisms in or near where the data is stored (i.e., inside memory chips or modules, in the logic layer of 3D-stacked memory, in the memory controllers, in storage devices or chips), so that data movement between the computation units and memory/storage units is reduced or eliminated. While the general idea of PIM is not new, we discuss motivating trends in applications as well as memory circuits and technology that greatly exacerbate the need for enabling it in modern computing systems. We examine at least two promising new approaches to designing PIM systems to accelerate important data-intensive applications: (1) processing-using-memory, which exploits fundamental analog operational principles of memory chips to perform massively-parallel operations in-situ in memory, (2) processing-near-memory, which exploits different logic and memory integration technologies (e.g., 3D-stacked memory technology) to place computation logic close to memory circuitry, and thereby enable high-bandwidth, low-energy, and low-latency access to data. In both approaches, we describe and tackle relevant cross-layer research, design, and adoption challenges in devices, architecture, systems, compilers, programming models, and applications. Our focus is on the development of PIM designs that can be adopted in real computing platforms at low cost. We conclude by discussing work on solving key challenges to the practical adoption of PIM. We believe that the shift from a processor-centric to a memory-centric mindset (and infrastructure) remains the largest adoption challenge for PIM, which, once overcome, can unleash a fundamentally energy-efficient, high-performance, and sustainable new way of designing, using, and programming computing systems.

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Cited by 3 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. PuDHammer: Experimental Analysis of Read Disturbance Effects of Processing-using-DRAM in Real DRAM Chips

    cs.AR 2025-06 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    Multiple-row activation used by processing-using-DRAM triggers read-disturbance bit flips with as few as 26 row activations, up to 158x fewer than RowHammer, and can bypass in-DRAM Target Row Refresh protections.

  2. EasyDRAM: An FPGA-based Infrastructure for Fast and Accurate End-to-End Evaluation of Emerging DRAM Techniques

    cs.AR 2025-06 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    EasyDRAM combines a C++ programmable memory controller with time scaling to evaluate DRAM techniques on real chips, matching a real CPU's memory latency profile.

  3. Enabling Low-Cost Secure Computing on Untrusted In-Memory Architectures

    cs.CR 2025-01 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Secure MPC-based offloading of linear and nonlinear machine-learning computations to real UPMEM PIM hardware achieves up to a 14.66x speedup over a secure CPU baseline.

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