In-Memory Computing for Machine Learning and Deep Learning

In-memory computing (IMC) aims at executing numerical operations via physical processes, such as current summation and charge collection, thus accelerating common computing tasks including the matrix-vector multiplication. While extremely promising for memory-intensive processing such as machine learning and deep learning, the IMC design and realization must face significant challenges due to device and circuit nonidealities. This work provides an overview of the research trends and options for IMC-based implementations of deep learning accelerators with emerging memory technologies. The device technologies, the computing primitives, and the digital/analog/mixed design approaches are presented. Finally, the major device issues and metrics for IMC are discussed and benchmarked.