Reliable Neuromorphic Computer Chip Inspired by Neurons

Innovation: Academia

MIT

2020

Image: Ingo Stiller / Unsplash / CC BY SA - Creative Commons Attribution + ShareAlike

Send Electrical/Magnetic Signals

Some living systems send electric or magnetic signals, often as a way of communicating with other living systems or sensing their environment. Electric and magnetic signaling requires specialized organs, and thus appear to be less common than other types of signals, such as audible and visual ones. Electric fish produce very sophisticated electric signals that not only help them find mates, but are also sensitive enough to enable them to distinguish individual fish.

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Learn

Living systems obtain information from their environment and use it to find mates and resources, and to escape threats. Some reactions to gathered information are instinctual or innate behaviors, not based on previous experiences. But other reactions are based on previous experiences, which means that, at some level, the living system is learning. Learning can involve a living system passing information to another living system, or a living system obtaining information and using it in a feedback loop. That information can include knowledge, experience, behavior, and skills. Learning takes place when information that is new to the recipient is used to modify existing behavior or skills. The making and use of tools by some species of birds and mammals is a learned behavior. If a chimpanzee uses a stick to successfully get ants out of an ant mound and continues to do so, it has learned that behavior. If another chimpanzee observes this technique and replicates it, it has learned from the first chimp.

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Compute

Computation allows an organism to take in and process information to make decisions. Whether it be calculating how fast prey is moving or deciding where to build a nest, computation is an important part of an organism’s life.

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Computer chip from MIT has thousands of artificial brain synapses that enable it to process information dynamically.

Benefits

Efficient
High-definition
Versatile

Applications

Artificial intelligence
Surveillance
Electronic devices

UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed

Goal 9: Industry Innovation & Infrastructure

The Challenge

Memory transistors are an essential element of neuromorphic computing. The capability of current memory transistors is limited by how many ions flow from one electrode to the other. Additionally, existing memory transistors are activated only when the voltage stimulates a large conduction channel.

Innovation Details

The computer chip is made out of tens of thousands of artificial synapses called memory transistors, or “memristors.” The memristors are made of silicon, silver, and copper. The metals are melded into alloys to introduce specific properties. This manipulation allows ions to flow more quickly, enhancing the speed of the system. Together the memristors form an artificial neural network to efficiently carry out computational tasks. The goal is for these chips to be able to recognize lights, make decisions, and remember processes.

Biomimicry Story

Neurons aid organisms in reacting to environmental stimuli because they collaborate to share information and filter unimportant information. Neurons form a complex cellular network in the brain that connect electrically and chemically to transmit information from sensory organs to specific brain regions that process the data and respond.

See Related Strategy

a black background with brightly colored glowing neurons and other cells in the cortex of a mouse brain

Biological Strategy

Sensing and Sharing Information

Humans

Neurons aid organisms in reacting to environmental stimuli because they collaborate to sense the environment, share information, and filter unimportant information

References

Journal article

Alloying conducting channels for reliable neuromorphic computing

Nature

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Reference

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