A VLSI neuroprocessor for real-time image flow computing

A locally connected multi-layer stochastic neural network and its associated VLSI array neuroprocessors have been developed for high-performance image flow computing systems. An extendable VLSI neural chip has been designed with a silicon area of 4.6×6.8 mm² in a MOSIS 2 μm scalable CMOS process. The mixed analog-digital design techniques are utilized to achieve compact and programmable synapses with gain-adjustable neurons and winner-take-all cells for massively parallel neural computation. Hardware annealing through the control of the neurons´ gain helps to efficiently search the optimal solutions. Computing of image flow using one 2 μm 72-neuron neural chip can be accelerated by a factor of 187 more than a Sun-4/260 workstation. Real-time image flow processing on industrial images is practical using an extended array of VLSI neural chips. Actual examples on moving trucks are presented