Biosequences analysis on NanoMagnet Logic

In the last decade Quantum dot Cellular Automata technology has been one of the most studied among the emerging technologies. The magnetic implementation, NanoMagnet Logic (NML), is particularly interesting as an alternative solutions to CMOS technology. The main advantages of NML circuits resides in the possibility to mix logic and memory in the same device, the expected low power consumption and the remarkable tolerance to heat and radiations. NML and QCA circuits behavior is different w.r.t. their CMOS counterparts. Consequently architecture organization must be tailored to their characteristics, and it is important to identify which applications are best suited for this technology. Our contribution reported in this paper represents a considerable step-forward in this direction. We present an optimized implementation on NML technology of an hardware accelerator for biosequences analysis. The architecture leverages the systolic array structure, which is the best organization for this technology due to the regularity of the layout. The circuit is described using a VHDL model, simulated to verify the correct functionality from the application point of view, and performance are evaluated, both in terms of speed and power consumption. Results pinpoints that NML technology with the appropriate clock solution can reach a considerable reduction in power consumption over CMOS. This analysis highlights quantitatively, and not only qualitatively, that NML logic is perfectly suited for Massively Parallel Data Analysis applications.