Constructing Fast and Energy Efficient 1TnR based ReRAM Crossbar Memory

Lei Zhao1, Lei Jiang2, Youtao Zhang1, Nong Xiao3, Jun Yang1
1University of Pittsburgh, 2Indiana University Bloomington, 3National University of Defense Technology


Abstract

ReRAM (Resistive Random Access Memory) is an emerging non-volatile memory technology that exhibits high cell density and low standby power. ReRAM crossbars, while having the smallest 4F2 cell size, su er from large sneak leakage, which not only wastes dynamic energy but also degrades system performance significantly. In this paper, we propose V-ReRAM, a novel ReRAM crossbar design based on 1TnR cell structure. By reorganizing the peripheral circuit, V-ReRAM greatly reduces the number of half-selected cells and thus the sneak leakage. V-ReRAM further improves RESET performance by exploiting the RESET latency difference among memory cells in ReRAM crossbars. Our experimental results show that, on average, V-ReRAM improves the system performance by 7.3% and reduces memory energy consumption by 72%, comparing to the baseline 1T4R based ReRAM crossbar.