Emergence of winner-takes-all connectivity paths in random nanowire networks
- Journal:
- Nature Communications
- Published:
- DOI:
- 10.1038/s41467-018-05517-6
- Affiliations:
- 5
- Authors:
- 11
Research Highlight
The winner takes it all
© BSIP/Getty
Nanowire networks are promising for providing a low-energy solution to storing and processing large amounts of data on brain-inspired computer chips.
Memristors are resistors that can simultaneously store and process data. Networks of metal nanowires could be used to make memristors for artificial intelligence (AI).
A team that included researchers from University College Cork in Ireland made a random network of silver nanowires connected by junctions, similar to the way neurons are connected by synapses in the brain. They then tweaked the network until a ‘winner-takes-all’ pathway emerged, such that all the stored memory became restricted to a single connectivity pathway that required the least energy to create.
Improvements to brain-inspired computing are gradually paving the way for AI with increasing levels of seemingly natural intelligence.
References
- Nature Communications 9, 3219 (2018). doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05517-6
| Institutions | Authors | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research (AMBER), Ireland | 0.32 | |
| The University of Dublin, Ireland | 0.32 | |
| Tyndall National Institute (TNI), Ireland | 0.18 | |
| Duke University, United States of America (USA) | 0.18 |