A Memcomputing Pascaline
This work demonstrates a novel computing approach for future high-density architectures, though it is incremental as it adapts an existing mechanical concept to electronics.
The authors tackled the challenge of performing multidigit arithmetic using multi-level memory devices by creating an electronic version of the Pascaline calculator with memristive systems, achieving the first experimental demonstration of such a system.
The original Pascaline was a mechanical calculator able to sum and subtract integers. It encodes information in the angles of mechanical wheels and through a set of gears, and aided by gravity, could perform the calculations. Here, we show that such a concept can be realized in electronics using memory elements such as memristive systems. By using memristive emulators we have demonstrated experimentally the memcomputing version of the mechanical Pascaline, capable of processing and storing the numerical results in the multiple levels of each memristive element. Our result is the first experimental demonstration of multidigit arithmetics with multi-level memory devices that further emphasizes the versatility and potential of memristive systems for future massively-parallel high-density computing architectures.