Exploration of magnetic memory for ultra low-power systems-on-chip

National audienceMemories are currently a real bottleneck to design high speed, low area and energy-efficient systems-on-chip (SoC). An important proportion of total power is spent on memory systems. Ultra low-power (ULP) SoC often use different memory technologies to keep the advantages of each one (area, energy consumption, latency and non-volatility), however there are still penalties and this add more complexity at every development levels. MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory) is seen as a promising alternative solution to replace both traditional SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) and NVM (Non Volatile Memory), thanks to its high density, low read/right latency, non-volatility and negligible leakage current. The aim of this work is to explore the possibilities of using MRAM in ULP SoC at various memory levels