Title
AER-SRT: Scalable spike distribution by means of synchronous serial ring topology address event representation
Abstract
Given the massive number of interconnects in Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs), distributing spikes effciently becomes a critical issue for the efficient hardware emulation of large-scale SNNs. In this work, the AER-SRT (Address Event Representation over Synchronous Serial Ring Topology) architecture for spike transmission is proposed. AER-SRT is a light, easily scalable, packet-based solution implemented with high-speed serial link for multi-chip SNN communication. The channel uses a unidirectional, point-to-point connection between nodes, which provides a high transmission speed. Events (spikes) are distributed among all the nodes in a ring-topology pipeline fashion and the synchronous AER guarantees a collision-free scheme. The fast speed and efficient channel usage limits the spike distribution time to values that allow real-time operation for network sizes that can be calculated with simple design equations. Also, in the proposed communication protocol there is no specific or master node, so new nodes can be added to the ring by simply modifying two configuration parameters. As a proof of concept, a prototype of the architecture has been implemented and tested on FPGA development boards. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Year
DOI
Venue
2016
10.1016/j.neucom.2015.07.080
NEUROCOMPUTING
Keywords
Field
DocType
AER (Address Event Representation),Multi-chip communication,Synchronous serial ring,Aurora protocol,SNN emulation,Time slot emulation
Computer science,Real-time computing,Artificial intelligence,Spiking neural network,Computer hardware,Hardware emulation,Serial communication,Pattern recognition,Network packet,Synchronous serial communication,Communication channel,Ring network,Scalability
Journal
Volume
ISSN
Citations 
171
0925-2312
7
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.79
7
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Taho Dorta1222.21
mireya zapata293.45
Jordi Madrenas315027.87
Giovanny Sánchez4335.29