Channel equalization techniques for non-volatile memristor memories

Abstract

Channel coding and information theoretic approaches have been utilized in conventional non-volatile memories to overcome their inherent design limitations of leakage, coupling and refresh rates. However, the continuous scaling and integration constraints set on the current devices directed the attention towards emerging memory technologies as suitable alternatives. Memristive devices are prominent candidates to replace the conventional electronics due to its non-volatility and small feature size. Nonetheless, memristor-based memories still encounter an accuracy limitation throughout the read operation addressed as the sneak path phenomenon. The readout data is corrupted with added distortion that increases significantly the bit error rate and jeopardizes the reliability of the read operation. A novel technique is applied to alleviate this distorting effect where the communication channel model is proposed for the memory array. Noise cancellation principles are applied with the aid of preset pilots to extract channel information and adjust the readout values accordingly. The proposed technique has the virtue of high speed, energy efficiency, and low complexity design while achieving high reliability and error-free decoding.