High-Throughput In-Memory Computing for Binary Deep Neural Networks With Monolithically Integrated RRAM and 90-nm CMOS

Deep neural network (DNN) hardware designs have been bottlenecked by conventional memories, such as SRAM due to density, leakage, and parallel computing challenges. Resistive devices can address the density and volatility issues but have been limited by peripheral circuit integration. In this work, we present a resistive RAM (RRAM)-based in-memory computing (IMC) design, which is fabricated in 90-nm CMOS with monolithic integration of RRAM devices. We integrated a 128 × 64 RRAM array with CMOS peripheral circuits, including row/column decoders and flash analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), which collectively become a core component for scalable RRAM-based IMC for large DNNs. To maximize IMC parallelism, we assert all 128 wordlines of the RRAM array simultaneously, perform analog computing along the bitlines, and digitize the bitline voltages using ADCs. The resistance distribution of low-resistance states is tightened by an iterative write-verify scheme. Prototype chip measurements demonstrate high binary DNN accuracy of 98.5% for MNIST and 83.5% for CIFAR-10 data sets, with 24 TOPS/W and 158 GOPS. This represents 22.3× and 10.1× improvements in throughput and energy-delay product (EDP), respectively, compared with the state-of-the-art literature, which can enable intelligent functionalities for area-/energy-constrained edge computing devices.