US 12,333,420 B2
Adaptive mixed digital and analog computational storage systems
Ramanathan Muthiah, Bangalore (IN); and Ramkumar Ramamurthy, Bangalore (IN)
Assigned to Sandisk Technologies, Inc., Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed by Sandisk Technologies, Inc., Milpitas, CA (US)
Filed on Feb. 11, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/173,843.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/110,298, filed on Nov. 5, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0138545 A1, May 5, 2022
Int. Cl. G06N 3/063 (2023.01); G06F 9/50 (2006.01); G06N 3/065 (2023.01); G06N 3/08 (2023.01)
CPC G06N 3/065 (2023.01) [G06F 9/5044 (2013.01); G06N 3/08 (2013.01)] 21 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A memory device, comprising:
a digital processor configured to perform computations in a digital domain;
an analog in-memory compute unit configured to perform computations in an analog domain, the analog in-memory compute unit comprising an array of memory elements configured to store weights for a neural network, wherein input data for the neural network comprises image data or audio data, the image data comprising a plurality of color channels and the audio data comprising a plurality of audio channels; and
control circuitry configured to:
receive input data; and
for each color channel of the plurality of channels or for each audio channel of the plurality of audio channels:
determine precision sensitivity of the received input data, wherein precision sensitivity is measured by a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) value;
determine whether the digital processor or the analog in-memory compute unit is to execute inference operations for the color channel or the audio channel based on power efficiency of the digital processor and the analog in-memory compute unit and precision sensitivity of the received input data; and
direct the received input data for the color channel or for the audio channel to either the digital processor or the analog in-memory compute unit based on the determination, wherein the directing comprises:
routing the received input data having a SNR value greater than a threshold to the digital processor; and
routing the received input data having a SNR value less than the threshold to the analog in-memory compute unit.