Replacing 6T SRAMs with 3T1D DRAMs in the L1 Data Cache to Combat Process Variability

With continued technology scaling, process variations will be especially detrimental to six-transistor static memory structures (6T SRAMs). A memory architecture using three-transistor, one-diode DRAM (3T1D) cells in the L1 data cache tolerates wide process variations with little performance degradation, making it a promising choice for on-chip cache structures for next-generation microprocessors.