UTSA - The University of Texas at San Antonio

01/22/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 01/23/2025 04:10

UTSA researchers chart course for neuromorphic computing systems

Steve Furber, emeritus professor of computer engineering at the University of Manchester, is among the authors on the project. Furber specializes in neural systems engineering and asynchronous systems. He led the development of the million-core SpiNNaker1 neuromorphic computing platform at Manchester and co-developed SpiNNaker2 with TU Dresden.

"Twenty years after the launch of the SpiNNaker project, it seems that the time for neuromorphic technology has finally come, and not just for brain modeling, but also for wider AI applications, notably to address the unsustainable energy demands of large, dense AI models," said Furber. "This paper captures the state of neuromorphic technology at this key point in its development, as it is poised to emerge into full-scale commercial use."

To achieve scale in neuromorphic computing, the team proposes several key features that must be optimized, including sparsity, a feature observed in the biological brains. The brain develops by forming numerous neural connections (densification) before selectively pruning most of them. This strategy optimizes spatial efficiency while retaining information at high fidelity. If successfully emulated, this feature could enable neuromorphic systems that are significantly more energy-efficient and compact.

"This paper is one of the most collaborative efforts to date toward outlining the field of neuromorphic computing with emphasis on scale, ecosystem and outreach between researchers, students, consumers and industry," said Pandit. "Representatives of many key research groups came together to share crucial information about the current state and future of the field with the goal of making large-scale neuromorphic systems more mainstream."

Pandit is pursuing his doctoral degree at UTSA under Kudithipudi. His focus is on training AI systems to learn continually without overwriting existing information. He recently published about the topic.

"UTSA is deeply invested in developing knowledge in this field, which has the potential to catalyze a number of technologies and address grand challenges in the world today such as energy waste and trustworthy AI," said JoAnn Browning, UTSA interim vice president for research. "I am extremely proud to see Dr. Kudithipudi and Tej Pandit making such significant contributions to harness the power of this promising technology, particularly on the heels of the launch of UTSA's new neuromorphic commons, THOR."