Semiconductor Engineering Article: Using Memory Differently

Chip architects are beginning to rewrite the rules on how to choose, configure and use different types of memory, particularly for chips with AI and some advanced SoCs.
Chipmakers now have a number of options and tradeoffs to consider when choosing memories, based on factors such as the application and the characteristics of the memory workload, because different memory types work better than others for different workloads. Also important are placement of memories, the datapath to and from memory, and the volume and type of data that needs to be stored and processed.
In the case of RISC-V, for example, Hand said design architects are building novel compute architectures because of the opportunity to play around with interesting memory configurations. “This isn’t new. On the DSP side of the world, people have been doing weird memory configurations working with various DSP IPs for a while now, and a lot of the advantages people get from these, whether it be audio processors or network processors, comes from the unique configurations of those processor memories.”
 
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