Relaxing non-volatility for fast and energy-efficient STT-RAM caches

Authors:
Clinton W. Smullen;Vidyabhushan Mohan;Anurag Nigam;Sudhanva Gurumurthi;Mircea R. Stan
Affiliations:
Department of Computer Science, University of Virginia;Department of Computer Science, University of Virginia;Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia;Department of Computer Science, University of Virginia;Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia
Venue:
HPCA '11 Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE 17th International Symposium on High Performance Computer Architecture
Year:
2011

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Abstract

Spin-Transfer Torque RAM (STT-RAM) is an emerging non-volatile memory technology that is a potential universal memory that could replace SRAM in processor caches. This paper presents a novel approach for redesigning STT-RAM memory cells to reduce the high dynamic energy and slow write latencies. We lower the retention time by reducing the planar area of the cell, thereby reducing the write current, which we then use with CACTI to design caches and memories. We simulate quad-core processor designs using a combination of SRAM- and STT-RAM-based caches. Since ultra-low retention STT-RAM may lose data, we also provide a preliminary evaluation for a simple, DRAMstyle refresh policy. We found that a pure STT-RAM cache hierarchy provides the best energy efficiency, though a hybrid design of SRAM-based L1 caches with reduced-retention STT-RAM L2 and L3 caches eliminates performance loss while still reducing the energy-delay product by more than 70%.