Computational RAM : Implementing Processors in Memory COMPUTATIONAL

in-memory architecture that makes highly effective use of internal memory bandwidth by pitch-matching simple processing elements to memory columns. Computational RAM (also referred to as C•RAM) can function either as a conventional memory chip or as a SIMD (single-instruction stream, multiple-data stream) computer. When used as a memory, computational RAM is competitive with conventional DRAM in terms of access time, packaging, and cost. As a SIMD computer, computational RAM can run suitable parallel applications thousands of times faster than a CPU. Computational RAM addresses many issues that prevented previous SIMD architectures from becoming commercially successful. While the SIMD programming model is somewhat restrictive, computational RAM has applications in a number of fields, including signal and image processing, computer graphics, databases, and CAD.