| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/C516583/1 |
| Title: |
PLATFORM: Biologically-Inspired VLSI Computation |
| Principal Investigator: |
Murray, Professor AF |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Sch of Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Edinburgh |
| Scheme: |
Platform Grants (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 August 2005 |
Ends: |
31 March 2010 |
Value (£): |
421,586
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Biomedical neuroscience |
Electronic Devices & Subsys. |
| New & Emerging Comp. Paradigms |
VLSI Design |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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This research looks beyond conventional computing, which uses high-precision digital numbers and fast, synchronised clock signals, to draw directly on biological examples for new circuits and ideas for future computation, both on silicon and in mixed silicon/biological systems. Biological computers comprise massive numbers of microscopic elements (neurones or braincells) that are noisy, inaccurate and slow. Braincells signal to one another primarily using electrical spikes. The nervous system performs extremely fast, accurate decision-making using these elements. We plan to use (a) spiking behaviour, (b) noisy circuits and (c) live neurones on silicon to develop new forms of computer for specific tasks (i.e we do not aspire to replace conventional computing - rather to augment it). In connecting together networks of these elements, we will use principles of self-organisation . A network of diverse neuromorphic chips will be given a computational goal and driven towards that goal by a genetic algorithm, or an alternative form of biologically-inspired self-organising scheme.Ultimately, we aim towards a form of computation and an approach to computer architecture that will work using 20nm-long transistors, where many of the fundamentally noisy, inaccurate properties of neurones will recur and conventional digital approaches to computation will fail.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.ed.ac.uk |