Neuromorphic Computing

Why Trust Techopedia

What Does Neuromorphic Computing Mean?

Neuromorphic computing utilizes an engineering approach or method based on the activity of the biological brain. This type of approach can make technologies more versatile and adaptable, and promote more vibrant results than other types of traditional architectures, for instance, the von Neumann architecture that is so useful in traditional hardware design.

Advertisements

Neuromorphic computing is also known as neuromorphic engineering.

Techopedia Explains Neuromorphic Computing

Neuromorphic computing has been around for a while, but it is now beginning to be applied in new and different ways. A prime example is the proposal to create neuromorphic chips which are more complex in nature than traditional microprocessors. Neuromorphic chips would have architectures more like the neurons of the human brain, allowing them to process information in more specialized ways.

Experts explain that the von Neumann chips, which were made use of in prior decades as Moore's law accelerated, were “primitive” compared to new designs. The “legacy” microprocessor performance designs were made more for crunching numbers and dealing with big data than processing images visually or doing the kinds of other high-level work that today's machine learning and artificial intelligence systems require. The idea is that new neuromorphic chips could be made to more easily accomplish these new types of technological goals.

Advertisements

Related Terms

Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.