No abstract

A Cellular Neural Network (CNN) is a powerful processor that can significantly improve the performance of spatiotemporal applications such as pattern recognition, image processing, motion detection, when compared to the more traditional von Neumann architecture. In this paper, we show how tunneling field effect transistors (TFETs) can be utilized to enhance the performance of CNNs. Specifically, power consumption of TFET-based CNNs can be significantly lower when compared to MOSFET-based CNNs due to improved voltage controlled current sources (VCCSs) -an important component in CNN systems. We demonstrate that CNNs can benefit from low power conventional linear VCCSs implemented via TFETs. We also show that TFETs can be useful to realize non-linear VCCSs, which are either not possible or exhibit degraded performance when implemented via CMOS. Such non-linear VCCSs help to improve the performance of certain CNN operations (e.g., global maximum/minimum). We provide two case studiesimage contrast enhancement and maximum row selectionthat illustrate the benefits of non-linear VCCSs (e.g., reduced computation time, energy dissipation, etc.) when compared to CMOS-based approaches.

No abstract

A Cellular Neural Network (CNN) is a highlyparallel, analog processor that can significantly outperform von Neumann architectures for certain classes of problems. Here, we show how emerging, beyond-CMOS devices could help to further enhance the capabilities of CNNs, particularly for solving problems with non-binary outputs. We show how CNNs based on devices such as graphene transistors -with multiple steep current growth regions separated by negative differential resistance (NDR) in their I-V characteristics -could be used to recognize multiple patterns simultaneously. (This would require multiple steps given a conventional, binary CNN.) Also, we demonstrate how tunneling field effect transistors (TFETs) can be used to form circuits capable of performing similar tasks. With this approach, more "exotic" device I-V characteristics are not required -which should be an asset when considering issues such as cell-to-cell mismatch, etc. As a case study, we present a CNN-cell design that employs TFET-based circuitry to realize ternary outputs. We then illustrate how this hardware could be employed to efficiently solve a tactile sensing problem. The total number of computation steps as well as the required hardware could be reduced significantly when compared to an approach based on a conventional CNN.

No abstract

No abstract

The primary objective of disparities research is to model the differences across multiple groups and identify the groups that behave significantly different from each other. Independently generating various decision trees for different subsets of the data will not allow us to study the impact of the various attributes on these different subgroups. We propose a novel technique for inducing similar decision trees for different subpopulations and also develop a new distance metric between two decision trees which measures the difference in the underlying data distributions of these subgroups. The proposed framework is evaluated by analyzing the racial disparities in breast cancer. Our method was able to rank different populations with respect to the disparity and detect the attributes that are most responsible for such differences.

No abstract