Stochastic computation using pulse-width modulated signals

US10740686B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Regents of the University of Minnesota · US

Inventors

• Mohammadhassan Najafi · Minneapolis, US
• Shiva Jamalizavareh · Minneapolis, US
• David J. Lilja · Maplewood, US
• Marcus Riedel · Minneapolis, US
• Kiarash Bazargan · Plymouth, US
• Ramesh Harjani · Minneapolis, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 12, 2018
• Grant date: Aug 11, 2020
• Expiry date: Sep 23, 2038

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06N3/047
• WIPO field: Computer technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Devices and techniques are described in which stochastic computation is performed on analog periodic pulse signals instead of random, stochastic digital bit streams. Exploiting pulse width modulation (PWM), time-encoded signals corresponding to specific values are generated by adjusting the frequency (period) and duty cycles of PWM signals. With this approach, the latency, area, and energy consumption are all greatly reduced, as compared to prior stochastic approaches. Circuits synthesized with the proposed approach can work as fast and energy efficiently as a conventional binary design while retaining the fault-tolerance and low-cost advantages of conventional stochastic designs.