Full System-Level Simulation of Compute-Near-Memory Architectures

Systems that deploy computational logic near memory can overcome typical von Neumann-based bottlenecks (e.g. memory wall) by limiting the amount of data transferred to central compute areas in a system. With modern compute-near memory (CnM) systems still in their infancy and typical programming paradigms focused on centralized computing however, new work must be undertaken to understand the architectural trade-offs and implementations of CnM systems with respect to full systems.
During this research internship, you will work to develop a full system-level model of CnM hardware for evaluation of upcoming CnM-enabled workloads and applications. Full system-level simulation of CnM hardware would enable the rapid evaluation of conventional CnM targets (e.g. AI, Genomics, and so on) as well as bottleneck analysis and weighing the trade-offs of high-level architectural decisions.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Developing full system-level CnM models for performance evaluation that are highly configurable and extensible to maintain relevancy with respect to both state-of-the-art and upcoming architectures.
• Collaborating with other team members on the development of CnM libraries and software to enable research into CnM-enabled applications in a wide variety of software domain.
• Disseminating and evaluating different kinds of CnM architectures, weighing the performance trade-offs of different configurations and CnM-ISAs.

This role is ideal for someone who is deeply interested in hardware-software codesign, computer architecture, and working in an interdisciplinary environment that values innovation, creativity, and real-world impact.

Profile: You are analytical and detail-oriented, with a strong interest in system simulation and hardware-software codesign. You are adept at or have a keen interest in programming and performance evaluation tools.

Background: You have or are currently pursuing a degree in computer engineering, computer science, or electrical engineering. Knowledge of object-oriented programming, scripting languages, gem5, and memory simulators is an advantage. 

Type of Project:  Internship; Thesis; Combination of internship and thesis 

Duration: 6-12 months 

For more information or application, please contact Joshua Klein (joshua.klein@imec.be)

 Imec allowance will be provided.