Korean research team develops PIM chip with advanced efficiency

Kim Sang-jin, the lead author for the DynaPlasia processing-in-memory chip research project and a PhD student at KAIST, holds the DynaPlasia chip. [MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND ICT]

A Korean research team developed an analog processing-in-memory (PIM) chip with advanced efficiency and data processing speed, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday.

It is the first of its kind in the world, according to the ministry.

The latest dynamic random-access memory (DRAM)-based PIM, named DynaPlasia, was developed by a KAIST research team of Yoo Hoi-jun, an engineering professor.

In PIM chips, processing and memory are integrated, reducing latency and addressing the von Neumann bottleneck, which refers to a reduced data transfer rate caused by the processing speed disparity between a processor and memory separated from each other.

Previous DRAM-based PIM chips are near-memory digital PIMs that have a processor not inside the memory but on the package.

The DynaPlasia, on the other hand, is an analog PIM with a processor embedded in the memory cell.

Compared to previous DRAM-PIM chips, its data processing speed is 15 times faster.

Moreover, the DynaPlasia chip has the world’s first triple-mode cell that works as a memory, a processor and an analog-to-digital data convertor at the same time, according to the science ministry.

Such structure enables more than twice the efficiency compared to the previous analog PIM chips.

The DynaPlasia is expected to power large-scale artificial intelligence models with better efficiency.

The government-backed research project was introduced during the International Solid-State Circuits Conference held in February in San Francisco.

“If the DynaPlasia PIM chip is deployed on a commercial scale, it will be able to demonstrate a strong performance in artificial intelligence models that are continuing to grow in scale and become more multi-purposed,” said Yoo of KAIST.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]