Analog VLSI integration of massive parallel processing systems

Peter Kinget

When comparing conventional computing architectures to the architectures of biological neural systems, there are several striking differences. Conventional computers use a low number of high performance computing elements that are programmed with algorithms to perform tasks in a time sequenced way; they are very successful in administrative applications, in scientific simulations, and in certain signal processing applications. However, the biological systems still significantly outperform conventional computers in perception tasks, sensory data processing and motory control. Biological systems use a completely different computing paradigm: a massive network of simple processors that are (adaptively) interconnected and operate in parallel. This massively parallel processing seems the key aspect to their success. The advent of VLSI technologies has provided us with the technological...