Skip to main content
EURASIP Journal on Embedded Systems
Download PDF

A Shared Memory Module for Asynchronous Arrays of Processors

EURASIP Journal on Embedded Systems volume 2007, Article number: 086273 (2007) Cite this article

Abstract

A shared memory module connecting multiple independently clocked processors is presented. The memory module itself is independently clocked, supports hardware address generation, mutual exclusion, and multiple addressing modes. The architecture supports independent address generation and data generation/consumption by different processors which increases efficiency and simplifies programming for many embedded and DSP tasks. Simultaneous access by different processors is arbitrated using a least-recently-serviced priority scheme. Simulations show high throughputs over a variety of memory loads. A standard cell implementation shares an 8 K-word SRAM among four processors, and can support a 64 K-word SRAM with no additional changes. It cycles at 555 MHz and occupies 1.2 mm2 in 0.18 μ m CMOS.

[1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12]

References

  1. Burks AW, Goldstine HH, von Neumann J: Preliminary discussion of the logical design of an electronic computing instrument. In Collected Works of John von Neumann. Volume 5. Edited by: Taub AH. The Macmillan, New York, NY, USA; 1963:34-79.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hennessy JL, Patterson DA: Computer Architecture, A Quantitative Approach. 3rd edition. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, Calif, USA; 2003. chapter Memory Hierarchy Design

    Google Scholar 

  3. Yu Z, Meeuwsen MJ, Apperson R, et al.: An asynchronous array of simple processors for DSP applications. IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC '06), February 2006, San Francisco, Calif, USA 428-429.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Banakar R, Steinke S, Lee B-S, Balakrishnan M, Marwedel P: Scratchpad memory: a design alternative for cache on-chip memory inembedded systems. Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Hardware/Software Codesign (CODES '02), May 2002, Estes Park, Colo, USA 73-78.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Panda PR, Dutt ND, Nicolau A: On-chip vs. off-chip memory: the data partitioning problem in embedded processor-based systems. ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems 2000,5(3):682-704. 10.1145/348019.348570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Patterson D, Anderson T, Cardwell N, et al.: A case for intelligent RAM. IEEE Micro 1997,17(2):34-44. 10.1109/40.592312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Mai K, Paaske T, Jayasena N, Ho R, Dally WJ, Horowitz MA: Smart memories: a modular reconfigurable architecture. Proceedings of the 27th Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA '00), June 2000, Vancouver, BC, Canada 161-171.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Baas BM: A parallel programmable energy-efficient architecture for computationally-intensive DSP systems. Proceedings of the 37th Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers (ACSSC '03), November 2003, Pacific Grove, Calif, USA 2: 2185-2192.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Meeuwsen MJ, Sattari O, Baas BM: A full-rate software implementation of an IEEE 802.11a compliant digital baseband transmitter. Proceedings of IEEE Workshop on Signal Processing Systems (SIPS '04), October 2004, Austin, Tex, USA 124-129.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Chapiro DM: Globally-asynchronous locally-synchronous systems, Ph.D. thesis. Stanford University, Stanford, Calif, USA; 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Apperson RW: A dual-clock FIFO for the reliable transfer of high-throughput data between unrelated clock domains, M.S. thesis. University of California, Davis, Davis, Calif, USA; 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Mai K, Ho R, Alon E, et al.: Architecture and circuit techniques for a 1.1-GHz 16-kb reconfigurable memory in 0.18- μ m CMOS. IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits 2005,40(1):261-275. 10.1109/JSSC.2004.837992

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616-5294, USA

    Michael J Meeuwsen, Zhiyi Yu & Bevan M Baas

Authors
  1. Michael J Meeuwsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zhiyi Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bevan M Baas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael J Meeuwsen.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Meeuwsen, M.J., Yu, Z. & Baas, B.M. A Shared Memory Module for Asynchronous Arrays of Processors. J Embedded Systems 2007, 086273 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1155/2007/86273

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2007/86273

Keywords

  • High Throughput
  • Control Structure
  • Shared Memory
  • Memory Load
  • Electronic Circuit