Neural processor comprising distributed synaptic cells
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A neural processor (10) comprising:
- a) input means for inputting digital signals;
b) a first plurality of storage means for storing synaptic coefficients, each synaptic coefficient defining a strength of a respective synapse connecting a respective pair of neurons;
c) a second plurality of storage means for storing neuron states;
d) an address bus (21);
e) an operation type bus (23);
f) at least one linked data path (22) for propagating data;
g) at least one free/busy path (24a, 24b) for propagating a free/busy signal; and
h) a plurality of means for computing neural potentials, comprising a plurality of synaptic cells, each synaptic cell being devoted to a respective one of the synapses, the synaptic cells being coupled in parallel to receive input signals from the address bus and the operation type bus, the synaptic cells being arranged in a chain, connected from one cell to another along the linked data path and the free/busy path, each respective synaptic cell comprising;
i) respective allocating means (31) for allocating, to the respective synaptic cell, a free/busy state propagated by the linked free/busy path;
ii) respective addressing means (33) forA) storing an address identifying the respective synaptic cell, the address comprising a source neuron identifier (51) and a destination neuron identifier (53), andB) comparing the address to a current address (SID, DID) appearing on the address bus (21) for determining whether the respective synaptic cell should be activated; and
iii) respective processing means (35) for performing operations, defined by the operation type bus (22), on data received from the linked data path (22).
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The neural net has a physical topology independent of its functional topology. Cells, being functional equivalents of synapses, are concatenated to form a unidirectional data path. The cells are connected in parallel to a bus for individual or parallel control The respective synapses contributions to a neuron potential are individually calculated in each respective cell involved. Each cell in the concatenation either is rendered transparent or adds its contribution to the data received from the preceding cell and supplies this sum to the next cell. Preferably, the allocation of the synapses to the cells is programmable.
-
Citations
9 Claims
-
1. A neural processor (10) comprising:
-
a) input means for inputting digital signals; b) a first plurality of storage means for storing synaptic coefficients, each synaptic coefficient defining a strength of a respective synapse connecting a respective pair of neurons; c) a second plurality of storage means for storing neuron states; d) an address bus (21); e) an operation type bus (23); f) at least one linked data path (22) for propagating data; g) at least one free/busy path (24a, 24b) for propagating a free/busy signal; and h) a plurality of means for computing neural potentials, comprising a plurality of synaptic cells, each synaptic cell being devoted to a respective one of the synapses, the synaptic cells being coupled in parallel to receive input signals from the address bus and the operation type bus, the synaptic cells being arranged in a chain, connected from one cell to another along the linked data path and the free/busy path, each respective synaptic cell comprising; i) respective allocating means (31) for allocating, to the respective synaptic cell, a free/busy state propagated by the linked free/busy path; ii) respective addressing means (33) for A) storing an address identifying the respective synaptic cell, the address comprising a source neuron identifier (51) and a destination neuron identifier (53), and B) comparing the address to a current address (SID, DID) appearing on the address bus (21) for determining whether the respective synaptic cell should be activated; and iii) respective processing means (35) for performing operations, defined by the operation type bus (22), on data received from the linked data path (22). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
Specification