DarkGates: A Hybrid Power-Gating Architecture to Mitigate the Performance Impact of Dark-Silicon in High Performance Processors


New research paper from ETH Zurich and others. Abstract "To reduce the leakage power of inactive (dark) silicon components, modern processor systems shut-off these components' power supply using low-leakage transistors, called power-gates. Unfortunately, power-gates increase the system's power-delivery impedance and voltage guardband, limiting the system's maximum attainable voltage (i.e., ... » read more

Benchmarking Memory-Centric Computing Systems: Analysis of Real Processing-in-Memory Hardware


Abstract "Many modern workloads such as neural network inference and graph processing are fundamentally memory-bound. For such workloads, data movement between memory and CPU cores imposes a significant overhead in terms of both latency and energy. A major reason is that this communication happens through a narrow bus with high latency and limited bandwidth, and the low data reuse in memory-bo... » read more

SparseP: Towards Efficient Sparse Matrix Vector Multiplication on Real Processing-In-Memory Systems


Abstract "Several manufacturers have already started to commercialize near-bank Processing-In-Memory (PIM) architectures. Near-bank PIM architectures place simple cores close to DRAM banks and can yield significant performance and energy improvements in parallel applications by alleviating data access costs. Real PIM systems can provide high levels of parallelism, large aggregate memory bandwi... » read more

Why RISC-V Is Succeeding


There is no disputing the excitement surround the introduction of the RISC-V processor architecture. Yet while many have called it a harbinger of a much broader open-source hardware movement, the reasons behind its success are not obvious, and the implications for an expansion of more open-source cores is far from certain. “The adoption of RISC-V as the preferred architecture for many sili... » read more

Metasurface Colloidal Quantum Dot Photodetectors


Abstract: "Efficient photodetectors that can be easily engineered for a specific spectral window are of high interest. Here, we report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of metasurface-enhanced photodetectors and photodiodes using colloidal quantum dots. We fabricate photoconductors optimized for the wavelength range around 1550 nm featuring responsivities of up to 8000 A/W wit... » read more

QUAC-TRNG: High-Throughput True Random Number Generation Using Quadruple Row Activation in Commodity DRAM Chips


Abstract "True random number generators (TRNG) sample random physical processes to create large amounts of random numbers for various use cases, including security-critical cryptographic primitives, scientific simulations, machine learning applications, and even recreational entertainment. Unfortunately, not every computing system is equipped with dedicated TRNG hardware, limiting the applicat... » read more

HARP: Practically and Effectively Identifying Uncorrectable Errors in Memory Chips That Use On-Die Error-Correcting Codes


Abstract: "State-of-the-art techniques for addressing scaling-related main memory errors identify and repair bits that are at risk of error from within the memory controller. Unfortunately, modern main memory chips internally use on-die error correcting codes (on-die ECC) that obfuscate the memory controller's view of errors, complicating the process of identifying at-risk bits (i.e., error pr... » read more

Uncovering In-DRAM RowHammer Protection Mechanisms: A New Methodology, Custom RowHammer Patterns, and Implications


Abstract: "The RowHammer vulnerability in DRAM is a critical threat to system security. To protect against RowHammer, vendors commit to security-through-obscurity: modern DRAM chips rely on undocumented, proprietary, on-die mitigations, commonly known as Target Row Refresh (TRR). At a high level, TRR detects and refreshes potential RowHammer-victim rows, but its exact are not openly disclose... » read more

A Deeper Look into RowHammer’s Sensitivities: Experimental Analysis of Real DRAM Chips and Implications on Future Attacks and Defenses


Abstract "RowHammer is a circuit-level DRAM vulnerability where repeatedly accessing (i.e., hammering) a DRAM row can cause bit flips in physically nearby rows. The RowHammer vulnerability worsens as DRAM cell size and cell-to-cell spacing shrink. Recent studies demonstrate that modern DRAM chips, including chips previously marketed as RowHammer-safe, are even more vulnerable to RowHammer than... » read more

Security Research Bits


A number of hardware security-related technical papers were presented at the August 2021 USENIX Security Symposium. The organization provides open access research, and the presentation slides and papers are free to the public. Topics include side-channel attacks and defenses, embedded security, hardware security tokens, and more. Here are some highlights with associated links:   [tab... » read more

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