With applications ranging from autonomous vehicle sensing to daytime astronomy to robotics, researchers attending the ORNL-hosted ICONS conference are interested not only in novel uses of neuromorphic computing, but also in the role it might play in building future supercomputers as traditional systems hit power and performance limits. Credit: Jason B. Smith/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are taking inspiration from neural networks to create computers that mimic the human brain鈥攁 quickly growing field known as neuromorphic computing. By replacing traditional memory and CPUs with electronic neurons and synapses, scientists aim to create systems that solve complex problems more quickly using less power. 鈥淭he computing community is starting to understand that this future beyond the GPU-CPU environment is coming,鈥� ORNL鈥檚 Catherine Schuman said. As scientists imagine supercomputers after ORNL鈥檚 Summit, the world鈥檚 fastest supercomputer, and its successor Frontier, they will look for ways to surpass power and performance limits of traditional computing. 鈥淥ne of those paths forward is to incorporate more novel computing architectures into the supercomputer,鈥� she said. ORNL will host the second annual in Knoxville from July 23-25, bringing together government, industry and academic professionals to collaborate on neuromorphic computing.鈥�Abby Bower
