Hi Hoppy,Hi Dio.
How do you rate this as direct competition for our markets?
i.e. Are they cutting our lunch or just cutting the cheese?
Without the performance figures, it's hard to make a dir3ect comparison.
Pulsar sprang Phoenix-like from the ashes of analog SNN research, only they have not dusted off the dying embers.
It seems to me that the Innatera chip would involve more manufacturing steps, even a couple of different manufacturing processes? This would make the chip more expensive to make.
https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aelm.202500203
A problem with ReRAM is the performance varies from element to element, and this necessitates remedial processing/circuitry. This reduces the theoretical advantages of analog v digital.
This Innatera patent application illustrates the complications:
EP4548260A1 CALIBRATION OF SPIKING NEURAL NETWORKS 20220629
[0006] Analog and mixed signal circuits, typically fabricated as an integrated circuit, are a power-efficient way to implement SNNs. One drawback of analog signal processing circuits is that their performance can vary with manufacturing tolerances as well as environmental factors like temperature and supply voltage variations. Digitally assisted analog-mixed signal circuits can be used as an alternative to provide reliable performance. The amount of assistance needs to be bounded and optimized.
...
[0011] To perform such an improved calibration procedure, circuit parameters may be measured and subsequently adjusted to conform to predefined specifications. In complex analog and mixed signal networks it may not be practical to directly measure all relevant parameters with sufficient accuracy, necessitating a calibration strategy that makes optimal use of observable parameters to deduce values for non-observable parameters. Relevant circuit parameters should be made adjustable with sufficient range to overcome expected variability and sufficient resolution to achieve the predefined specifications. [0012] Due to the complexity of the SNN and the varied kind of components used in the design of an analog or mixed signal SNN system-on-a-chip (SoC), the optimal trade-off between performance versus the amount of calibration under the SoC constraints is a nontrivial problem. This invention provides a system and method for such calibration in an SNN with varied components, connectivity and limited observability and measurability.
... the SNN comprises a plurality of input processing circuits, each input processing circuit having an input for receiving a spiking neural network input signal and being configured to apply a transfer function to the input signal to generate a processed input signal;
a plurality of offset current generators, each offset current generator configured to generate an offset current signal at a predetermined level;
a plurality of synapses, each synapse connected to receive a processed input signal from one of the input processing circuits and configured to apply a predetermined weight to the processed input signal to generate a synapse output signal;
a plurality of neurons, each neuron connected to receive synapse output signals from a subset of the synapses and an offset current signal from one of the offset current generators, and each neuron configured to generate a neuron output signal in response to the received synapse output signals and offset current signal; and
an analog-to-digital converter having an input, the input being connectable to receive an offset current signal from one of the offset current generators, and being configured to convert the received offset current signal to a corresponding digital output signal.
They have to tweak each individual ReRAM circuit to bring its performance within spec.
The analog SNN (1k elements) might serve as an always on movement detector, or possibly KWS to wake up the rest of the chip processors. We have Pico to do this, and Akida is multifunctional and can serve this purpose with a few NPUs while leaving the rest of the NPUs free for other tasks.
Innatera bill Pulsar as "Pulsar: The first commercially available, brain-inspired microcontroller for sensing at the edge".
https://innatera.com/pulsar
Market Size & Growth Outlook
Regional Insights
Innovation & Applications
Conclusion
Would you like me to also break down key players in the market (e.g., Intel, BrainChip, SynSense, IBM) and their strategies?
Neuromorphic Computing Market Share & Technological Maturity
Summary
Observations
