A Dual Threshold Analogue Content Addressable Memory

Advances in machine learning and neuromorphic systems are fuelled by the development of architectures required for these applications, such as content addressable memory. In an attempt to address this need, this paper presents a new RRAM tuned window comparator, building upon existing work in reconfigurable computing. The circuit uses a low component count at 6T2R2M, comparable with the most compact existing cells of this type. This paper will present this design, demonstrating its operation with TiOx memristive devices, showing its controllability and specificity. This paper will then simulate the energy dissipated in its operation, showing it to be below 100pJ per test, comparable to existing works.

An FPGA-based System for Generalised Electron Devices Testing

Electronic systems are becoming more and more ubiquitous as our world digitises. Simultaneously, even basic components are experiencing a wave of improvements with new transistors, memristors, voltage/current references, data converters, etc, being designed every year by hundreds of R&D groups world-wide. To date, the workhorse for testing all these designs has been a suite of lab instruments including oscilloscopes and signal generators, to mention the most popular. However, as components become more complex and pin numbers soar, the need for more parallel and versatile testing tools also becomes more pressing. In this work, we describe and benchmark an FPGA system developed that addresses this need. This general purpose testing system features a 64-channel source-meter unit (SMU), and 2x banks of 32 digital pins for digital I/O. We demonstrate that this bench-top system can obtain $170 pA$ current noise floor, $40 ns$ pulse delivery at $\pm13.5 V$ and $12 mA$ maximum current drive/channel. We then showcase the instrument's use in performing a selection of three characteristic measurement tasks: a) current-voltage (IV) characterisation of a diode and a transistor, b) fully parallel read-out of a memristor crossbar array and c) an integral non-linearity (INL) test on a DAC. This work introduces a down-scaled electronics laboratory packaged in a single instrument which provides a shift towards more affordable, reliable, compact and multi-functional instrumentation for emerging electronic technologies.