An Alternative Analytical Approach to Associative Processing

Associative Processing (AP) is a promising alternative to the Von Neumann model as it addresses the memory wall problem through its inherent in-memory computations. However, because of the countless design parameter choices, comparisons between implementations of two so radically different models are challenging for simulation-based methods. To tackle these challenges, we develop an alternative analytical approach based on a new concept called architecturally-determined complexity. Using this method, we asymptotically evaluate the runtime/storage/energy bounds of the two models, i.e., AP and Von Neumann. We further apply the method to gain more insights into the performance bottlenecks of traditional AP and develop a new machine model named Two Dimensional AP to address these limitations. Finally, we experimentally validate our analytical method and confirm that the simulation results match our theoretical projections.