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Tiny chip mimics the brain

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Published : 2014-08-11 21:09
Updated : 2014-08-11 21:09

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Researchers have unveiled a powerful new postage stamp-sized chip delivering supercomputer performance using a process that mimics the human brain.

The so-called “neurosynaptic” chip is a breakthrough that opens a wide new range of computing possibilities from self-driving cars to artificial intelligence systems that can be installed on a smartphone, the scientists say.


“We have taken inspiration from the cerebral cortex to design this chip,” said IBM chief scientist for brain-inspired computing, Dharmendra Modha, referring to the command center of the brain.

He said existing computers trace their lineage back to machines from the 1940s which are essentially “sequential number-crunching calculators” that perform mathematical or “left brain” tasks but little else.

The new chip dubbed “TrueNorth” works to mimic the “right brain” functions of sensory processing ― responding to sights, smells and information from the environment to “learn” to respond in different situations, Modha said.

It accomplishes this task by using a huge network of “neurons” and “synapses,” similar to how the human brain functions by using information gathered from the body’s sensory organs.

The researchers designed TrueNorth with 1 million programmable neurons and 256 million programmable synapses, on a chip with 4,096 cores and 5.4 billion transistors.



“The sensor becomes the computer,” Modha said in a phone interview. “You could have better sensory processors without the connection to wi-fi or the cloud.”