Single Neuromorphic Memristor closely Emulates Multiple Synaptic Mechanisms for Energy Efficient Neural Networks

Biological neural networks do not only include long-term memory and weight multiplication capabilities, as commonly assumed in artificial neural networks, but also more complex functions such as short-term memory, short-term plasticity, and meta-plasticity - all collocated within each synapse. Here,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Weilenmann, Christoph, Ziogas, Alexandros, Zellweger, Till, Portner, Kevin, Mladenović, Marko, Kaniselvan, Manasa, Moraitis, Timoleon, Luisier, Mathieu, Emboras, Alexandros
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 26.02.2024
Subjects
Artificial intelligence
Artificial neural networks
Cognitive tasks
Computer & video games
Energy consumption
Energy costs
Machine learning
Memory devices
Memristors
Nanotechnology devices
Neural networks
Neuromorphic computing
Plastic properties
Synapses
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Summary:Biological neural networks do not only include long-term memory and weight multiplication capabilities, as commonly assumed in artificial neural networks, but also more complex functions such as short-term memory, short-term plasticity, and meta-plasticity - all collocated within each synapse. Here, we demonstrate memristive nano-devices based on SrTiO3 that inherently emulate all these synaptic functions. These memristors operate in a non-filamentary, low conductance regime, which enables stable and energy efficient operation. They can act as multi-functional hardware synapses in a class of bio-inspired deep neural networks (DNN) that make use of both long- and short-term synaptic dynamics and are capable of meta-learning or "learning-to-learn". The resulting bio-inspired DNN is then trained to play the video game Atari Pong, a complex reinforcement learning task in a dynamic environment. Our analysis shows that the energy consumption of the DNN with multi-functional memristive synapses decreases by about two orders of magnitude as compared to a pure GPU implementation. Based on this finding, we infer that memristive devices with a better emulation of the synaptic functionalities do not only broaden the applicability of neuromorphic computing, but could also improve the performance and energy costs of certain artificial intelligence applications.
ISSN:2331-8422