Multiport Memory Analog Port Neural Network Bridge
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multiport memories are digital and lack an analog port, limiting their ability to handle analog signals while maintaining rapid digital storage, which is essential for advanced applications like analog neural networks.
Innovation Solution
A multiport memory design incorporating both digital and analog ports, where the digital port handles address and data storage, and the analog port processes analog input quantities by multiplying them with stored values in the memory cells, generating weighted sum-of-products signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a multiport memory is designed with only digital ports, then rapid digital storage and access is achieved, but the ability to process analog signals is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The memory device is designed with dual functionality: digital ports for rapid data storage and an analog port for signal processing. The same memory core serves both digital storage and analog weight application, allowing the device to perform multiple functions (storage, reading, and analog multiplication) without requiring separate dedicated components for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines digital memory storage with analog signal processing in a single integrated device. The digital port handles data writing while the analog port simultaneously or sequentially handles analog input/output operations, merging what would traditionally be separate digital memory and analog processing components into one unified multiport memory structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If analog signal processing is added to multiport memory, then the ability to handle analog neural networks is enabled, but the simplicity of digital-only operation is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The memory device is segmented into distinct ports with specialized functions: digital ports for data storage operations and an analog port for signal processing operations. This segmentation allows different types of operations (digital writing and analog reading) to occur through different interfaces, enabling analog neural network compatibility while maintaining the operational simplicity of dedicated digital pathways for storage tasks.
3Device complexity
If a single memory core is used for both digital storage and analog processing, then device integration is improved, but potential interference between digital and analog operations may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The memory core is logically segmented into multiple independent lines or rows, where each line can be independently addressed and controlled. This segmentation allows digital write operations and analog read operations to target different memory lines simultaneously, reducing potential interference while maintaining high integration. The control logic can selectively activate specific memory lines based on the operation type, ensuring signal integrity.
Data Source
AI summary
A multiport memory in which one of the ports is analog rather than digital is described. In one embodiment, the analog port functions as a read-only port and the digital port functions as a write only port. This allows the data in the core memory to be applied to an analog signal, while retaining a digital port having access to the core memory for rapid storage of data. One potential use of such a multiport memory is as a bridge between a digital computer and an analog computer; for example, this allows a digitally programmed two-port memory to derive a sum-of-products signal from a plurality of analog input signals, and a plurality of such multiport memories to be used in an analog neural network such as a programmable neural net implementing analog artificial intelligence (AI).