Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RadioSpin (DEEP OSCILLATORY NEURAL NETWORKS COMPUTING AND LEARNING THROUGH THE DYNAMICS OF RF NEURONS INTERCONNECTED BY RF SPINTRONIC SYNAPSES)
Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2022-06-30
The goal of RadioSpin is to build a hardware neural network that computes using neural dynamics as in the brain, has a deep layered architecture as in the neocortex, but runs and learns faster, by seven orders of magnitude. For this purpose, we will use ultrafast radio-frequency (RF) oscillators to imitate the rich, reconfigurable dynamics of biological neurons. Within the RadioSpin project, we will develop a new breed of nanosynapses, based on spintronics technology, that directly process the RF signals sent by neurons and interconnects them layer-wise. We will demonstrate and benchmark our concept by building a lab-scale prototype that co-integrates for the first time CMOS RF neurons with spintronic RF synapses. We will develop brain-inspired algorithms harnessing oscillations, synchrony and edge-of-chaos for computing and show that they can run on RadioSpin deep network RF technology. Finally, we will benchmark RadioSpin technology for biomedical and RF fingerprinting applications where fast and low energy consumption classification of RF signals are key.
To achieve its ambitious goals RadioSpin brings together frontier researchers along the entire chain of neuromorphic engineering, from material science (spintronic nanodevices), physics (non-linear dynamics), electronics (RF CMOS design), computer science (artificial intelligence algorithms), and microwave signal processing. Two innovative companies bring reallife use-cases (microwave mammography and IoT RF fingerprinting). The scientific experts are further complemented by experts in the field of innovation, commercial deployment and IP monetisation, as well as communication and public
engagement.
To achieve its ambitious goals RadioSpin brings together frontier researchers along the entire chain of neuromorphic engineering, from material science (spintronic nanodevices), physics (non-linear dynamics), electronics (RF CMOS design), computer science (artificial intelligence algorithms), and microwave signal processing. Two innovative companies bring reallife use-cases (microwave mammography and IoT RF fingerprinting). The scientific experts are further complemented by experts in the field of innovation, commercial deployment and IP monetisation, as well as communication and public
engagement.
During this reporting period, we have made significant progress towards each objective, as detailed in the section below. The main achievements of the project so far are:
- Production of RF spintronic nano-neurons and nano-synapses. While the devices will be further improved during the project in view of the MTJ-CMOS co-integration, their quality was already good enough to observe the expected behaviours and develop accurate physical models. Furthermore, we have achieved the connection from a nano-neuron to a nano-synapse and demonstrated the expected functionality.
- Design of the main RF CMOS building blocks (ring oscillators and synaptic amplifiers). Optimization of the circuits, as well as the full layout will be conducted in the rest of the project.
- Development of a neural network simulator taking into account the physical models of the RF spintronic devices. Using this simulator, we could benchmark our algorithms on standard image recognition tasks and demonstrate equivalent accuracy of RadioSpin technology with conventional software neural networks. The rest of the project will focus on complexification of the networks and algorithms to further leverage the dynamics of the devices.
- Production of dedicated RF datasets to benchmark RadioSpin technology on RF fingerprinting of commercial drones. The real-life dataset will be fed to the large-scale simulator while the smaller adapted dataset will be fed to the lab-scale demonstrator.
- Production of dedicated RF datasets to benchmark RadioSpin technology on RF mammography. A clinical trial has been prepared to obtain a real-life dataset, to be fed to the simulator and will be conducted in the rest of the project. Phantoms have been fabricated to collect a dataset adapted to the lab-scale demonstrator.
- Production of RF spintronic nano-neurons and nano-synapses. While the devices will be further improved during the project in view of the MTJ-CMOS co-integration, their quality was already good enough to observe the expected behaviours and develop accurate physical models. Furthermore, we have achieved the connection from a nano-neuron to a nano-synapse and demonstrated the expected functionality.
- Design of the main RF CMOS building blocks (ring oscillators and synaptic amplifiers). Optimization of the circuits, as well as the full layout will be conducted in the rest of the project.
- Development of a neural network simulator taking into account the physical models of the RF spintronic devices. Using this simulator, we could benchmark our algorithms on standard image recognition tasks and demonstrate equivalent accuracy of RadioSpin technology with conventional software neural networks. The rest of the project will focus on complexification of the networks and algorithms to further leverage the dynamics of the devices.
- Production of dedicated RF datasets to benchmark RadioSpin technology on RF fingerprinting of commercial drones. The real-life dataset will be fed to the large-scale simulator while the smaller adapted dataset will be fed to the lab-scale demonstrator.
- Production of dedicated RF datasets to benchmark RadioSpin technology on RF mammography. A clinical trial has been prepared to obtain a real-life dataset, to be fed to the simulator and will be conducted in the rest of the project. Phantoms have been fabricated to collect a dataset adapted to the lab-scale demonstrator.
RadioSpin proposes solutions to achieve AI acceleration at all levels: from novel nanodevices to system computations, from physics to microelectronics to algorithms. RadioSpin is already based on two patents by CNRS and Thales2 and further IP will be developed and protected during the project and in the years to follow. Performances beyond the projection in Fig. 1 can indeed be made possible by pushing the frequency of devices to THz with antiferromagnetic materials, by increasing the efficiency of spin-torques (using topological insulators) and by densifying the architecture (stacking junctions in 3D). RadioSpin proposes a ground-breaking concept for building hardware neural networks: spin-RF neuromorphic edge intelligence. Its objectives are to accelerate AI and decrease its energy consumption. In this way, RadioSpin will contribute to minimizing the environmental impact linked to the increasing amount of electricity consumed by ICT. Furthermore, RadioSpin will unlock novel applications that cannot be supported by current hardware such as on-the-fly classification of RF signals, for biomedical applications RF fingerprinting, but also fully-autonomous vehicles and robots, which are important in applications from Automotive to Space. RadioSpin will therefore enable new products to be manufactured that can then potentially lead to entirely new services and business where AI can help in spanning extremely diverse aspects of our everyday life such as health (X-ray free radiology), telecommunications, transportation (air traffic management, autonomous cars), aerospace (aircrafts and satellites), education (teacher robots) and personal assistants (smartphones, portable automatic translation devices).
RadioSpin envisages the following impacts:
1. RadioSpin will bring neuromorphic engineering at a level where it can be benchmarked in terms of performance, power consumption, size, latency or other relevant metric (e.g. learning capacity, speed or plasticity) on real-life applications.
2. RadioSpin paves the way to market take-up for existing and new neuromorphic application areas Health and biomedical applications.
3. RadioSpin will help stimulate the emergence of a European innovation ecosystem around neuromorphic engineering, well beyond the world of research alone.
4. Economic Impact: RadioSpin with the two selected use cases in the fields of health and RF fingerprinting for device classification targets highly promising sectors with clear potential for economic impact. Progress achieved during RP1 and first results in technology benchmarking for the two use cases have shown the high potential of RadioSpin for future industrialisation resulting in economic impact.
5. Impact on European policies and strategies: RadioSpin will contribute to major strategic European initiatives via an ambitious concept of RF edge intelligence merging Spintronics and Neuromorphics, both “beyond CMOS” technologies. Key roadmaps identified to be of highest relevance also for the strategic direction of RadioSpin are: 1) the European Strategy for Micro-and Nanoelectronic component and systems, 2) the Nanoelectronics roadmap for Europe (NEREID), 3) the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS™) and 4) The Electronic Components & Systems (ECS) Strategic Research Agenda (SRA).
6. Impact on low energy consumption and environmentally friendly technology: RadioSpin technology offers a low energy path to neural network deployment, both in data centres and edge devices.
RadioSpin envisages the following impacts:
1. RadioSpin will bring neuromorphic engineering at a level where it can be benchmarked in terms of performance, power consumption, size, latency or other relevant metric (e.g. learning capacity, speed or plasticity) on real-life applications.
2. RadioSpin paves the way to market take-up for existing and new neuromorphic application areas Health and biomedical applications.
3. RadioSpin will help stimulate the emergence of a European innovation ecosystem around neuromorphic engineering, well beyond the world of research alone.
4. Economic Impact: RadioSpin with the two selected use cases in the fields of health and RF fingerprinting for device classification targets highly promising sectors with clear potential for economic impact. Progress achieved during RP1 and first results in technology benchmarking for the two use cases have shown the high potential of RadioSpin for future industrialisation resulting in economic impact.
5. Impact on European policies and strategies: RadioSpin will contribute to major strategic European initiatives via an ambitious concept of RF edge intelligence merging Spintronics and Neuromorphics, both “beyond CMOS” technologies. Key roadmaps identified to be of highest relevance also for the strategic direction of RadioSpin are: 1) the European Strategy for Micro-and Nanoelectronic component and systems, 2) the Nanoelectronics roadmap for Europe (NEREID), 3) the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS™) and 4) The Electronic Components & Systems (ECS) Strategic Research Agenda (SRA).
6. Impact on low energy consumption and environmentally friendly technology: RadioSpin technology offers a low energy path to neural network deployment, both in data centres and edge devices.