jaro@utecfa.UUCP (Jaro A Pristupa) (10/03/86)
JOINT COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING SEMINAR
VLSI MODELS OF NEURO-NETWORKS
by
Professor Carver Mead
California Institute of Technology
Abstract
The Semiconductor technology has evolved to the point
where chips containing a million transistors can be fabri-
cated without defects. If a small number of defects can be
tolerated, this number is increased by two orders of magni-
tude. Devices now being fabricated on an experimental basis
have shown that another two orders of magnitude are possi-
ble. The inescapable conclusion is that wafers containing
10^10 (10 to the tenth power) devices, of which only a van-
ishing fraction are defective, will be in production within
a few years. This level of complexity is well below that
required for higher cortical functions, but is already suf-
ficient to solve lower level perception tasks.
This remarkable technology has made possible a new dis-
cipline: Synthetic Neurobiology. The thesis of this discip-
line is that it is not possible, even in principle, to claim
a full understanding of a system unless one is able to build
one that functions properly. This principle is already well
accepted in molecular biology, and more recently in genet-
ics. It is hoped that the approach will soon join the trad-
itional descriptive and analytical foundations of neurobiol-
ogy.
Small examples using current technology to attack prob-
lems in early vision and hearing will be described.
DATE: Monday, October 6, 1986
TIME: 4:00 p.m.
PLACE: GB244
Galbraith Building
University of Torontoclarke@utcsri.UUCP (Jim Clarke) (10/06/86)
In article <1899@utecfa.UUCP> jaro@utecfa.UUCP (Jaro A Pristupa) writes: >JOINT COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING SEMINAR > > VLSI MODELS OF NEURO-NETWORKS > by > Professor Carver Mead > California Institute of Technology > > Abstract > > .... The thesis of this discip- >line is that it is not possible, even in principle, to claim >a full understanding of a system unless one is able to build >one that functions properly. This principle is already well >accepted in molecular biology, and more recently in genet- >ics.... Without wishing to carp, and certainly without wanting to put anyone off what sounds like a Very interesting seminar (but maybe with a few sour grapes because I have to go to a Very uninteresting meeting at the same time), perhaps I could just point out that one of the systems we have learned to understand best in the twentieth century is the star. You know, one of those bright things in the sky. Very big, they are, actually, and tough to build. (You might think that an H-bomb would be a simulation. Unfortunately an H-bomb is not useful even for that. It demonstrates the basic mechanism of energy generation, but the scale is all wrong: mass too low, temperature too high.) OK, I know astrophysics isn't particularly close to neurophysiology. But that sounded like a Grand Principle back there. It isn't quite universal, but I couldn't properly go on without attending the seminar. In case you'd forgotten, here's the time of the seminar again: >DATE: Monday, October 6, 1986 >TIME: 4:00 p.m. >PLACE: GB244 > Galbraith Building > University of Toronto -- Jim Clarke -- Dept. of Computer Science, Univ. of Toronto, Canada M5S 1A4 (416) 978-4058 {allegra,cornell,decvax,linus,utzoo}!utcsri!clarke