Intrinsic Numerical Robustness and Fault Tolerance in a Neuromorphic Algorithm for Scientific Computing
This work addresses the need for reliable neuromorphic systems in scientific computing, though it is incremental as it builds on a previously described algorithm.
The paper tackled the problem of demonstrating intrinsic fault tolerance in neuromorphic computing by showing that a spiking neuromorphic algorithm for solving partial differential equations is robust to structural perturbations, with results indicating tolerance to up to 32% neuron ablation and 90% spike drop before significant accuracy degradation.
The potential for neuromorphic computing to provide intrinsic fault tolerance has long been speculated, but the brain's robustness in neuromorphic applications has yet to be demonstrated. Here, we show that a previously described, natively spiking neuromorphic algorithm for solving partial differential equations is intrinsically tolerant to structural perturbations in the form of ablated neurons and dropped spikes. The tolerance band for these perturbations is large: we find that as many as 32 percent of the neurons and up to 90 percent of the spikes may be entirely dropped before a significant degradation in the accuracy results. Furthermore, this robustness is tunable through structural hyperparameters. This work demonstrates that the specific brain-like inspiration behind the algorithm contributes to a significant degree of robustness expected from brain-like neuromorphic algorithms.