Analog Signal Processing in High Frequency Circuits Using Crossbar Configurations

A memristor is a nanoscale resistive switching device identified in 2009 [1], [4] as the fourth circuit element along with the resistor, the capacitor and the inductor. Since then, most of the research effort has focused on the design and fabrication of resistors to mitigate problems faced in todays computing circuits including Neumann’s bottleneck and the anticipated end of Moore’s Law. Memristors configured as node elements of a crossbar array circuit have demonstrated the capability to perform vector-matrix multiplications in one time step, regardless of the size of the vector-matrix pair [8]. Using the intrinsic memristor non-volatile resistance and the circuit properties of a cross-bar, this paper explores the use of a memristor cross-bar configuration in the analog domain. Specifically, the design and implementation of the memristor crossbar array concept in the design of a filter-mixer combination is demonstrated. In the proposed architecture, the memristor crossbar arrays can be programmed and re-programmed to replicate a broad range of analog circuits appropriate for signal processing. Programmable Memristor Analog Arrays (PMAA) provide high-performance signal processing functions and are free of the filter and LO-generated parasitic effects and related noise found in every heterodyne receiver.