Single neuromorphic memristor closely emulates multiple synaptic mechanisms for energy efficient neural networks

Christoph Weilenmann (), Alexandros Nikolaos Ziogas, Till Zellweger, Kevin Portner, Marko Mladenović, Manasa Kaniselvan, Timoleon Moraitis, Mathieu Luisier and Alexandros Emboras
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Christoph Weilenmann: ETH Zurich
Alexandros Nikolaos Ziogas: ETH Zurich
Till Zellweger: ETH Zurich
Kevin Portner: ETH Zurich
Marko Mladenović: ETH Zurich
Manasa Kaniselvan: ETH Zurich
Timoleon Moraitis: Noemon AG
Mathieu Luisier: ETH Zurich
Alexandros Emboras: ETH Zurich

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Biological neural networks do not only include long-term memory and weight multiplication capabilities, as commonly assumed in artificial neural networks, but also more complex functions such as short-term memory, short-term plasticity, and meta-plasticity - all collocated within each synapse. Here, we demonstrate memristive nano-devices based on SrTiO3 that inherently emulate all these synaptic functions. These memristors operate in a non-filamentary, low conductance regime, which enables stable and energy efficient operation. They can act as multi-functional hardware synapses in a class of bio-inspired deep neural networks (DNN) that make use of both long- and short-term synaptic dynamics and are capable of meta-learning or learning-to-learn. The resulting bio-inspired DNN is then trained to play the video game Atari Pong, a complex reinforcement learning task in a dynamic environment. Our analysis shows that the energy consumption of the DNN with multi-functional memristive synapses decreases by about two orders of magnitude as compared to a pure GPU implementation. Based on this finding, we infer that memristive devices with a better emulation of the synaptic functionalities do not only broaden the applicability of neuromorphic computing, but could also improve the performance and energy costs of certain artificial intelligence applications.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51093-3

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