Spiking Neuron Circuits and Systems -

Design and fabrication of neuro-inspired computing networks based on ultra-low power artificial neurons and plastic synapses.

The research strategy of the SPINE project (‘Spiking Neuron Circuits and Systems’) was the following:

Development of an ultra-low-power consumption neuron
Bio-inspired neuron design allowing the control of spike amplitude, duration and frequency.
Use of a CMOS industrial technology, combining manufacturing flexibility and rapid industrial transfer
Artificial neurons and synapses with a small area for ultra-large-scale integration
Fully analog design allowing in continuous time processing.

The artificial neuron circuit is very simple (only six transistors operating in the subthreshold mode) and its energy consumption is several orders of magnitude lower than artificial neurons reported in the literature, but also two to three orders of magnitude lower than the energy consumption of living neurons.

Top view of the CMOS artificial neural network

Electrical response of a biomimetic artificial neuron ( green) to excitation current pulse ( yellow)

See others «Bio Inspired Architectures»

Neural Network Scalable Spiking Simulator N2S3 is an open-source simulator that is built to help the design of spiking neuromorphic circuits. Vision Spiking neural networks applied to computer vision problem.