Abstract

The recent discovery of memristor, a device able to store multi-bit values in a single cell, has renewed the interest for fast arithmetic operations via high-radix numeric systems. This work presents a conceptual solution for CMOS-compatible, high-radix memristive arithmetic logic units (ALUs). The latter, combine CMOS circuitry for data processing with a reconfigurable, multi-level, memristive nanocrossbar memory, which allows the compact, high-radix storage of numbers. Certain modifications introduced to the typical crossbar topology permit the parallel creation of partial products for faster multiplication. High-radix to binary data conversion is performed via a network of comparators. A simulation-based validation of read/write operations from/to a multi-level memristive crossbar was performed using SPICE and a threshold-type model of a voltage-controlled bipolar memristor.