A Chip Off The Ai Block

Scientists are investigating ways to unify processing and memory in order to create a new branch of electronics called ‘in-memory computing’. Bhaswar Chakrabarti, an assistant professor in the department of electrical engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, is among the scientists investigating how to unify processing and memory using a ‘content-addressable memory’ (CAM) chip. The chip is made using a special type of transistor called ‘ferroelectric field effect transistors’ (FeFETs) which are made using a compound called indium gallium zinc oxide. This chip could be used in applications such as network routing, CPU caching and deep learning.