13. In-Memory Data Compression Using ReRAMs

Data compression is a key building block in the current age of information deluge. It is necessary for efficient storage management, effective utilization of communication bandwidth and eventually helps to refine the data to provide information and knowledge. Given the growth of sensors and connected devices, the role of compression in data management is growing in importance steadily. Following the earliest computing abstractions, data is transferred between storage and computing blocks. Any form of processing, including the compression, needs to be run in the computing segment, and returned back to the storage. This basic notion is challenged by the advent of several new technologies, which support logic operations and storage on the same device. Consequently, in-memory computing platforms are being studied by researchers and commercial entities for their applicability in different scenarios, such as data encryption and on-chip machine learning. This chapter explores the implementation of data compression algorithm using such an in-memory computing platform. We explain the building blocks of the in-memory computing architecture, the steps of a data compression algorithm and show step-by-step the mapping process.