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SpiNNaker Powers Up World's Largest Supercomputer That Emulates a Human Brain
The world's largest neuromorphic supercomputer, the Spiking Neural Network Architecture (SpiNNaker), was just switched on for the first time yesterday, boasting one million processor cores and the ability to perform 200 trillion actions per second. HotHardware reports: SpiNNaker has been twenty years and nearly $19.5 million in the making. The project was originally supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), but has been most recently funded by the European Human Brain Project. The supercomputer was designed and built by the University of Manchester's School of Computer Science. Construction began in 2006 and the supercomputer was finally turned on yesterday.
SpiNNaker is not the first supercomputer to incorporate one million processor cores, but it is still incredibly unique since it is designed to mimic the human brain. Most computers send information from one point to another through a standard network. SpiNNaker sends small bits of information to thousands of points, similar to how the neurons pass chemicals and electrical signals through the brain. SpiNNaker uses electronic circuits to imitate neurons. SpiNNaker has so far been used to mimic the processing of more isolated brain networks like the cortex. It has also been used to control SpOmnibot, a robot that processes visual information and navigates towards its targets.
SpiNNaker is not the first supercomputer to incorporate one million processor cores, but it is still incredibly unique since it is designed to mimic the human brain. Most computers send information from one point to another through a standard network. SpiNNaker sends small bits of information to thousands of points, similar to how the neurons pass chemicals and electrical signals through the brain. SpiNNaker uses electronic circuits to imitate neurons. SpiNNaker has so far been used to mimic the processing of more isolated brain networks like the cortex. It has also been used to control SpOmnibot, a robot that processes visual information and navigates towards its targets.
...that the article does not mention that the project lead, Steve Furber was one of the team at Acorn that created the original ARM chip back in the 80s.
A human brain rarely does something spectacular the first days of being turned on.
- Henrik
- when the Shadows descend -
> only million cpu's, isn't that a few orders of magnitude to small to emulate a human brain anyways, which has hundreds of billions of neurons?
No. There is no reason that you need 1 cpu per neuron.
A biological neuron fires 200 times per second. A single core can simulate the firing of 10,000 neurons per second.
Also, there is no reason the simulation needs to be real-time, so the speed isn't really that important.
Trying to use inorganic matter to simulate consciousness is a fools errand.
Why ? Unless you can point out some fundamental limitations, it's nothing but an argument from incredulity. It's like saying we can only make a functional wing from feathers, and not aluminum.
According to their website, they had custom silicon designed and built. A basic box with these things has 4 CPUs on it, and each CPU has 18 cores onboard, complete with their own high-speed memory for data and instructions.
Check it out over here http://apt.cs.manchester.ac.uk...
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