Nontraditional Computation Using Beyond-CMOS Tunneling Devices

Amongst potential post-CMOS technologies, tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs) are attractive for low-power systems. While TFETs are functionally somewhat similar to MOSFETs, the newly proposed tunneling transistors such as SymFETs and BiSFETs demonstrate more "exotic" characteristics t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE journal on emerging and selected topics in circuits and systems 2014-12, Vol.4 (4), p.438-449
Main Authors: Sedighi, Behnam, Hu, Xiaobo Sharon, Nahas, Joseph J., Niemier, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Field effect transistors
Low-power electronics
Neural networks
non-Boolean computer
non-Von-Neumann architecture
Power dissipation
Tunneling
tunneling transistors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Amongst potential post-CMOS technologies, tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs) are attractive for low-power systems. While TFETs are functionally somewhat similar to MOSFETs, the newly proposed tunneling transistors such as SymFETs and BiSFETs demonstrate more "exotic" characteristics that are significantly different from MOSFETs. We look at the possible applications of TFETs and SymFETs for unconventional signal processing by employing their signature behaviors. We focus on networks of interconnected nonlinear elements which can process data coming from a large number of inputs (e.g., sensors) in an analog fashion. Specifically, we investigate several applications of TFET and SymFET in directional and anisotropic diffusion, estimating Gaussian distance of different patterns in analog associative memories, and estimating minimum/maximum or variance of analog data. We show that such circuits have reduced complexity and/or enhanced power efficiency.
ISSN:2156-3357
2156-3365
DOI:10.1109/JETCAS.2014.2361065