340 research outputs found
Programmable neural logic
Circuits of threshold elements (Boolean input, Boolean output neurons) have been shown to be surprisingly powerful. Useful functions such as XOR, ADD and MULTIPLY can be implemented by such circuits more efficiently than by traditional AND/OR circuits. In view of that, we have designed and built a programmable threshold element. The weights are stored on polysilicon floating gates, providing long-term retention without refresh. The weight value is increased using tunneling and decreased via hot electron injection. A weight is stored on a single transistor allowing the development of dense arrays of threshold elements. A 16-input programmable neuron was fabricated in the standard 2 Ī¼m double-poly, analog process available from MOSIS.
We also designed and fabricated the multiple threshold element introduced in [5]. It presents the advantage of reducing the area of the layout from O(n^2) to O(n); (n being the number of variables) for a broad class of Boolean functions, in particular symmetric Boolean functions such as PARITY.
A long term goal of this research is to incorporate programmable single/multiple threshold elements, as building blocks in field programmable gate arrays
On reliable computation over larger alphabets
We present two new positive results for reliable computation using formulas
over physical alphabets of size . First, we show that for logical
alphabets of size the threshold for denoising using gates subject to
-ary symmetric noise with error probability is strictly larger
that possible for Boolean computation and we demonstrate a clone of -ary
functions that can be reliably computed up to this threshold. Secondly, we
provide an example where , showing that reliable Boolean computation
can be performed using -input ternary logic gates subject to symmetric
ternary noise of strength by using the additional alphabet
element for error signalling.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure
Hybrid quantum computing with ancillas
In the quest to build a practical quantum computer, it is important to use
efficient schemes for enacting the elementary quantum operations from which
quantum computer programs are constructed. The opposing requirements of
well-protected quantum data and fast quantum operations must be balanced to
maintain the integrity of the quantum information throughout the computation.
One important approach to quantum operations is to use an extra quantum system
- an ancilla - to interact with the quantum data register. Ancillas can mediate
interactions between separated quantum registers, and by using fresh ancillas
for each quantum operation, data integrity can be preserved for longer. This
review provides an overview of the basic concepts of the gate model quantum
computer architecture, including the different possible forms of information
encodings - from base two up to continuous variables - and a more detailed
description of how the main types of ancilla-mediated quantum operations
provide efficient quantum gates.Comment: Review paper. An introduction to quantum computation with qudits and
continuous variables, and a review of ancilla-based gate method
A formal model of asynchronous communication and its use in mechanically verifying a biphase mark protocol
In this paper we present a formal model of asynchronous communication as a function in the Boyer-Moore logic. The function transforms the signal stream generated by one processor into the signal stream consumed by an independently clocked processor. This transformation 'blurs' edges and 'dilates' time due to differences in the phases and rates of the two clocks and the communications delay. The model can be used quantitatively to derive concrete performance bounds on asynchronous communications at ISO protocol level 1 (physical level). We develop part of the reusable formal theory that permits the convenient application of the model. We use the theory to show that a biphase mark protocol can be used to send messages of arbitrary length between two asynchronous processors. We study two versions of the protocol, a conventional one which uses cells of size 32 cycles and an unconventional one which uses cells of size 18. We conjecture that the protocol can be proved to work under our model for smaller cell sizes and more divergent clock rates but the proofs would be harder
Variability-Aware Design of Multilevel Logic Decoders for Nanoscale Crossbar Memories
The fabrication of crossbar memories with sublithographic features is expected to be feasible within several emerging technologies; in all of them, the nanowire (NW) decoder is a critical part since it bridges the sublithographic wires to the outer circuitry that is defined on the lithography scale. In this paper, we evaluate the addressing scheme of the decoder circuit for NW crossbar arrays, based on the existing technological solutions for threshold voltage differentiation of NW devices. This is equivalent to using a multivalued logic addressing scheme. With this approach, it is possible to reduce the decoder size and keep it defect tolerant. We formally define two types of multivalued codes (i.e., hot and reflexive codes), and we estimate their yield under high variability conditions. Multivalued hot decoders yield better area saving than n-ary reflexive codes, and under severe conditions, reflexive codes enable a nonvanishing part of the code space to randomly recover. The choice of the optimal combination of decoder type and logic level saves area up to 24%. We also show that the precision of the addressing voltages when a high variability affects the threshold voltages is a crucial parameter for the decoder design and permits large savings in memory area. Moreover, a precise knowledge about the variability level improves the design of memory decoders by giving the right optimal code
QudCom: Towards Quantum Compilation for Qudit Systems
Qudit-based quantum computation offers unique advantages over qubit-based
systems in terms of noise mitigation capabilities as well as algorithmic
complexity improvements. However, the software ecosystem for multi-state
quantum systems is severely limited. In this paper, we highlight a quantum
workflow for describing and compiling qudit systems. We investigate the design
and implementation of a quantum compiler for qudit systems. We also explore
several key theoretical properties of qudit computing as well as efficient
optimization techniques. Finally, we provide demonstrations using physical
quantum computers as well as simulations of the proposed quantum toolchain
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