Ex-situ training of dense memristor crossbar for neuromorphic applications

This study proposes a technique for programming a dense memristor crossbar array without isolation transistors (0T1M) in order to achieve ex-situ training of a neural network. Programming memristors to a specific resistance level requires an iterative process needing the reading of individual memristor resistances due to memristor device stochasticity. This paper presents a circuit to read individual resistances from a 0T1M crossbar and a method to map neuron synaptic weights into a novel neural circuit to enable ex-situ training. The results show that we are able to train the resistances in a 0T1M crossbar and that the 0T1M system is about 93% smaller in area than 1T1M systems.