Switched Memory Architectures

and the

Generic Reconfigurable Affine Interconnection Lattice (GRAIL)


A Switched Memory Architecture (SMA) is a domain specific architecture designed for direct hardware implementation of a class of compute-intensive programs called Affine Control Loops (ACLs). An SMA is essentially, a multi-dimensional grid of processors or processing elements (PEs), each one consisting of (i) a functional unit that implements a data path to execute the operations in the loop body, (ii) a control unit and (iii) a set of memory banks to store the results of the computations. The PEs are interconnected through a special interconnection network called the GRAIL (Generic Reconfigurable Affine Interconnection Lattice).

Here is a three minute clip describing a specific three-dimensional GRAIL. After seeing the clip you may have a number of questions/comments, such as the following.