A Versatile PCM-Based Circuits Emulator and Its Use on Implementing Linear Algebra Functions

Phase-change memory (PCM) is a technology that can be exploited not only on next-generation storage systems but also on new computing paradigms, like the in-memory computing approach. For experimenting with different characteristics of PCM technology in large-scale PCM-based circuits and devices, we developed an accurate and precise hardware PCM emulator, which can model PCM circuits at the cell, array and matrix level. In this work, we present details of the PCM emulator, its architecture and experimental results on its use for implementing basic linear algebra functions.