18,192 research outputs found
Enabling Fine-Grain Restricted Coset Coding Through Word-Level Compression for PCM
Phase change memory (PCM) has recently emerged as a promising technology to
meet the fast growing demand for large capacity memory in computer systems,
replacing DRAM that is impeded by physical limitations. Multi-level cell (MLC)
PCM offers high density with low per-byte fabrication cost. However, despite
many advantages, such as scalability and low leakage, the energy for
programming intermediate states is considerably larger than programing
single-level cell PCM. In this paper, we study encoding techniques to reduce
write energy for MLC PCM when the encoding granularity is lowered below the
typical cache line size. We observe that encoding data blocks at small
granularity to reduce write energy actually increases the write energy because
of the auxiliary encoding bits. We mitigate this adverse effect by 1) designing
suitable codeword mappings that use fewer auxiliary bits and 2) proposing a new
Word-Level Compression (WLC) which compresses more than 91% of the memory lines
and provides enough room to store the auxiliary data using a novel restricted
coset encoding applied at small data block granularities.
Experimental results show that the proposed encoding at 16-bit data
granularity reduces the write energy by 39%, on average, versus the leading
encoding approach for write energy reduction. Furthermore, it improves
endurance by 20% and is more reliable than the leading approach. Hardware
synthesis evaluation shows that the proposed encoding can be implemented
on-chip with only a nominal area overhead.Comment: 12 page
Energy Saving Techniques for Phase Change Memory (PCM)
In recent years, the energy consumption of computing systems has increased
and a large fraction of this energy is consumed in main memory. Towards this,
researchers have proposed use of non-volatile memory, such as phase change
memory (PCM), which has low read latency and power; and nearly zero leakage
power. However, the write latency and power of PCM are very high and this,
along with limited write endurance of PCM present significant challenges in
enabling wide-spread adoption of PCM. To address this, several
architecture-level techniques have been proposed. In this report, we review
several techniques to manage power consumption of PCM. We also classify these
techniques based on their characteristics to provide insights into them. The
aim of this work is encourage researchers to propose even better techniques for
improving energy efficiency of PCM based main memory.Comment: Survey, phase change RAM (PCRAM
How to Knit Your Own Markov Blanket
Hohwy (Hohwy 2016, Hohwy 2017) argues there is a tension between the free energy principle and leading depictions of mind as embodied, enactive, and extended (so-called ‘EEE1 cognition’). The tension is traced to the importance, in free energy formulations, of a conception of mind and agency that depends upon the presence of a ‘Markov blanket’ demarcating the agent from the surrounding world. In what follows I show that the Markov blanket considerations do not, in fact, lead to the kinds of tension that Hohwy depicts. On the contrary, they actively favour the EEE story. This is because the Markov property, as exemplified in biological agents, picks out neither a unique nor a stationary boundary. It is this multiplicity and mutability– rather than the absence of agent-environment boundaries as such - that EEE cognition celebrates
Entropy and perpetual computers
A definition of entropy via the Kolmogorov algorithmic complexity is
discussed. As examples, we show how the meanfield theory for the Ising model,
and the entropy of a perfect gas can be recovered. The connection with
computations are pointed out, by paraphrasing the laws of thermodynamics for
computers. Also discussed is an approach that may be adopted to develop
statistical mechanics using the algorithmic point of view.Comment: Based on Chanchal Majumdar memorial lectures given in Kolkata. 9
pages, 3 eps figures. For publication in "Physics Teacher"; v2. Sec 3
fragmented into smaller subsection
Study of information transfer optimization for communication satellites
The results are presented of a study of source coding, modulation/channel coding, and systems techniques for application to teleconferencing over high data rate digital communication satellite links. Simultaneous transmission of video, voice, data, and/or graphics is possible in various teleconferencing modes and one-way, two-way, and broadcast modes are considered. A satellite channel model including filters, limiter, a TWT, detectors, and an optimized equalizer is treated in detail. A complete analysis is presented for one set of system assumptions which exclude nonlinear gain and phase distortion in the TWT. Modulation, demodulation, and channel coding are considered, based on an additive white Gaussian noise channel model which is an idealization of an equalized channel. Source coding with emphasis on video data compression is reviewed, and the experimental facility utilized to test promising techniques is fully described
Sparse Signal Processing Concepts for Efficient 5G System Design
As it becomes increasingly apparent that 4G will not be able to meet the
emerging demands of future mobile communication systems, the question what
could make up a 5G system, what are the crucial challenges and what are the key
drivers is part of intensive, ongoing discussions. Partly due to the advent of
compressive sensing, methods that can optimally exploit sparsity in signals
have received tremendous attention in recent years. In this paper we will
describe a variety of scenarios in which signal sparsity arises naturally in 5G
wireless systems. Signal sparsity and the associated rich collection of tools
and algorithms will thus be a viable source for innovation in 5G wireless
system design. We will discribe applications of this sparse signal processing
paradigm in MIMO random access, cloud radio access networks, compressive
channel-source network coding, and embedded security. We will also emphasize
important open problem that may arise in 5G system design, for which sparsity
will potentially play a key role in their solution.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in IEEE Acces
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