Computer processing power is so integrated into our daily lives that we hardly notice how it enables everything from a routine text message to solving "large data" problems that mandate immense supercomputing resources. And yet, the processing power of today's computers pales in comparison to that most advanced processor - the human brain. It is now believed that technological progress would enable us to take up the challenge of developing a new kind of computing architecture that functions more like the brain. In recent years, scientists have examined the electrical interaction between brain synapses and how biological neurons interact. They have also derived mathematical models to explain how these processes work. By employing these models in combination with a new device technology that exhibits similar electrical response to the neural synapses, this project will design entirely new computer processing chips that mimic how the brain processes information.
We envision these chips performing pattern recognition with machine complexity an order of magnitude higher than traditional computing and digital signal processor (DSP) architectures. And even though the chip physical size and weight will match current processors, their power consumption will be orders of magnitude lower than with the von Neumann computing architecture that forms the basis for most of today's computer processors. Therefore, by mimicking the brain's billions of interconnections and pattern recognition capabilities, we may ultimately introduce a new paradigm in speed and power, and potentially enable systems that include the ability to learn, adapt, and respond to their environment.
