Designing Hybrid DRAM/PCM Main Memory Systems Utilizing Dual-Phase Compression

作者：Baek Seungcheol; Lee Hyung Gyu^*; Nicopoulos Chrysostomos; Kim Jongman

来源：ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems, 2014, 20(1): 11.

DOI：10.1145/2658989

• Performance
• Design
• Algorithms
• Phase-change memory
• data compression
• durability
• low power

The last few years have witnessed the emergence of a promising new memory technology, namely Phase-Change Memory (PCM). Due to its inherent ability to scale deeply into the nanoscale regime and its low power consumption, PCM is increasingly viewed as an attractive alternative for the memory subsystem of future microprocessor architectures. However, PCM is marred by a duo of potentially show-stopping deficiencies, that is, poor write performance (especially when compared to the prevalent and ubiquitous DRAM technology) and limited durability. These weaknesses have urged designers to develop various supporting architectural techniques to aid and complement the operation of the PCM while mitigating its innate flaws. One promising such solution is the deployment of hybridized memory architectures that fuse DRAM and PCM, in order to combine the best attributes of each technology. In this article, we introduce a novel Dual-Phase Compression (DPC) scheme and its architectural design aimed at DRAM/PCM hybrids, which caters to the limitations of PCM technology while optimizing memory performance. The DPC technique is specifically optimized for PCM-based environments and is transparent to the operation of the remaining components of the memory subsystem. Furthermore, the proposed architecture is imbued with a multifaceted wear-leveling technique to enhance the durability and prolong the lifetime of the PCM. Extensive simulations with traces from real applications running on a full-system simulator demonstrate 20.4% performance improvement and 46.9% energy reduction, on average, as compared to a baseline DRAM/PCM hybrid implementation. Additionally, the multifaceted wear-leveling technique is shown to significantly prolong the lifetime of the PCM.

• 出版日期2014-11