Analogic Cellular Array Computing - a new bridge between Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Mathematics

Tamas Roska, SZTAKI,


There is an emerging new wave in information technology: the sensor revolution. After the age of cheap microprocessors, and cheap bandwidth in communication which led to the internet industry, we are witnessing the dawn of an era when real time arrays of analog signals are generated by microsensors and microactuators (MEMS). We need a new type of computer for processing these signals real time.

The Analogic Cellular Computers are a new breed of array computers. They have non-equilibrium spatial-temporal (NEST) instructions as the atoms of their algorithms. These computers are based on the CNN Universal Machine architecture, and have CMOS and optical implementations. The recent CMOS mixed signal visual microprocessor chips perform about a trillion operations per second.

In this lecture, the basic ideas, the algorithmic advances, some real life applications, and the underlying computational infrastructure will be presented.