IBM introduced the latest brain-inspired SyNAPSE chip on August 7, 2014 than implements 1 million neurons and 256 million synapses and consumes on 70mW (0.07 watts) of power during operation, which is doubly remarkable as this is the largest chip IBM has ever built at 5.4 billion transistors, and has an on-chip network of 4,096 neurosynaptic cores. As part of a complete cognitive hardware and software ecosystem, this technology opens new computing frontiers for distributed sensor and supercomputing applications. Dr. Dharmendra Modha, IBM Fellow says, “The architecture can solve a wide class of problems from vision, audition, and multi-sensory fusion, and has the potential to revolutionize the computer industry by integrating brain-like capability into devices where computation is constrained by power and speed.“.
IBM has utilized a number of these chips to develop a system roughly the size of a rat brain.
Image Courtsey http://www.techworm.net/2015/08/digital-rat-brain-built-by-ibm-could-power-smartphones-in-future.html
Programming this new architecture requires a fundamentally new way of thinking, so IBM Research built SyNAPSE University — a curriculum of lectures, hands-on exercises, and expert coaching that helps interested parties build these complex neurosynaptic systems. It will be a place to work with current, and develop new, business and academic partnerships. If you are interested in collaborating with IBM Research, please fill out the online information form.
The following four videos provide a deep-dive by many different contributors about programming these chips
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