[XC] Synthetickiller
08-10-2014, 02:22 PM
Saw this & figured someone should get around to posting it.
The new processor, which the team is calling TrueNorth, takes a radically different approach. Its 5.4 billion transistors include over 4,000 individual cores, each of which contain a collection of circuitry that behaves like a set of neurons. Each core has over 100,000 bits of memory, which store things like the neuron's state, the addresses of the neurons it receives signals from, and the addresses of the neurons it sends signals to. The memory also holds a value that reflects the strength of various connections, something seen in real neurons. Each core can receive input from 256 different "neurons" and can send spikes to a further 256.
The core also contains the communications hardware needed to send the spikes on to their destination. Since the whole chip is set up as a grid of neurons, addressing is as simple as providing x- and y-coordinates to get to the right core and then a neuron ID to get to the right recipient. The cores also contain random number generators to fully model the somewhat stochastic spiking activity seen in real neurons.
In total, TrueNorth has a million programmable neurons that can establish 256 million connections among themselves. The whole thing is kept moving by a clock that operates at a leisurely 1kHz. But the communications happen asynchronously, and any core that doesn't have anything to do simply sits idle. As a result, the power density of TrueNorth is 20mW per square centimeter (a typical modern processor's figure is somewhere above 50 Watts). The chip was fabricated by Samsung using a 28nm process.
Articles here:
http://www.wired.com/2014/08/ibm-unveils-a-brain-like-chip-with-4000-processor-cores/
http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/08/ibm-researchers-make-a-chip-full-of-artificial-neurons/
Just one more step closer to building an artificial brain. At least the power consumption is great, despite the "low" clock speed of 1khz.
The new processor, which the team is calling TrueNorth, takes a radically different approach. Its 5.4 billion transistors include over 4,000 individual cores, each of which contain a collection of circuitry that behaves like a set of neurons. Each core has over 100,000 bits of memory, which store things like the neuron's state, the addresses of the neurons it receives signals from, and the addresses of the neurons it sends signals to. The memory also holds a value that reflects the strength of various connections, something seen in real neurons. Each core can receive input from 256 different "neurons" and can send spikes to a further 256.
The core also contains the communications hardware needed to send the spikes on to their destination. Since the whole chip is set up as a grid of neurons, addressing is as simple as providing x- and y-coordinates to get to the right core and then a neuron ID to get to the right recipient. The cores also contain random number generators to fully model the somewhat stochastic spiking activity seen in real neurons.
In total, TrueNorth has a million programmable neurons that can establish 256 million connections among themselves. The whole thing is kept moving by a clock that operates at a leisurely 1kHz. But the communications happen asynchronously, and any core that doesn't have anything to do simply sits idle. As a result, the power density of TrueNorth is 20mW per square centimeter (a typical modern processor's figure is somewhere above 50 Watts). The chip was fabricated by Samsung using a 28nm process.
Articles here:
http://www.wired.com/2014/08/ibm-unveils-a-brain-like-chip-with-4000-processor-cores/
http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/08/ibm-researchers-make-a-chip-full-of-artificial-neurons/
Just one more step closer to building an artificial brain. At least the power consumption is great, despite the "low" clock speed of 1khz.