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| A demonstration using DynaPlasia PIM semiconductor, developed by a research team at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), is shown in this photo, Tuesday. Courtesy of KAIST |
By Baek Byung-yeul
A research team at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed a processing-in-memory (PIM) chip that added an arithmetic unit for the first time in the industry, which could be utilized as a memory chip for artificial intelligence (AI) services that require high-performance data processing, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday.
The research team, led by Yoo Hoi-jun, ICT endowed chair professor at KAIST, said its PIM chip called DynaPlasia, equipped with processors that perform calculations, has a data processing speed 15 times faster than existing PIM chips and consumes less power.
PIM is the latest memory chip that combines processors with memory functions. DRAM-based PIMs have already been introduced by companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, but their products are digital DRAM-PIM that place software-implemented processors outside the memory cells.
On the other hand, the KAIST team developed current leakage tolerant computing technology to eliminate the effect of current leakage and perform analog operations that allow all memory cells to operate in parallel quickly.
Yoo said the development of Dynaplasia can be used for AI services, if commercialized.
"This research is significant in that it not only solves the technological bottleneck of memory chips but also develops high capacity DRAM-PIM," Yoo said. "If it is commercialized, this will be able to show high performance in AI models that have recently become more massive and diverse."
The research project was conducted by PIM-HUB, a research center dedicated to develop PIM chips. The center was established by the ICT ministry in June 2022 as part of strengthened cooperation between the country's chipmakers and researchers.
Both Samsung and SK have joined the research center as members and have been conducting joint research projects and developing curriculum to foster future professionals.
While the performance of CPU and GPU has dramatically increased, the improvement of memory chips has been lagging behind. But memory chipmakers expect the latest PIM chips can be an answer to that as they will become essential in processing enormous amounts of data by AI services.
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