PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New study shows analog computing can solve complex equations and use far less energy

UMass Amherst research demonstrates that a memristor device can solve complex scientific problems using significantly less energy, overcoming one of the major hurdles of digital computing

New study shows analog computing can solve complex equations and use far less energy
2024-03-14
(Press-News.org) AMHERST, Mass. – A team of researchers including University of Massachusetts Amherst engineers have proven that their analog computing device, called a memristor, can complete complex, scientific computing tasks while bypassing the limitations of digital computing.

 

Many of today’s important scientific questions—from nanoscale material modeling to large-scale climate science—can be explored using complex equations. However, today’s digital computing systems are reaching their limit for performing these computations in terms of speed, energy consumption and infrastructure.

 

Qiangfei Xia, UMass Amherst professor of electrical and computer engineering, and one of the corresponding authors of the research published in Science, explains that, with current computing methods, every time you want to store information or give a computer a task, it requires moving data between memory and computing units. With complex tasks moving larger amounts of data, you essentially get a processing “traffic jam” of sorts.

 

One way traditional computing has aimed to solve this is by increasing bandwidth. Instead, Xia and his colleagues at UMass Amherst, the University of Southern California, and computing technology maker, TetraMem Inc. have implemented in-memory computing with analog memristor technology as an alternative that can avoid these bottlenecks by reducing the number of data transfers.

 

The team’s in-memory computing relies on an electrical component called a memristor—a combination of memory and resistor (which controls the flow of electricity in a circuit). A memristor controls the flow of electrical current in a circuit, while also “remembering” the prior state, even when the power is turned off, unlike today’s transistor-based computer chips, which can only hold information while there is power. The memristor device can be programmed into multiple resistance levels, increasing the information density in one cell.

 

When organized into a crossbar array, such a memristive circuit does analog computing by using physical laws in a massively parallel fashion, substantially accelerating matrix operation, the most frequently used but very power-hungry computation in neural networks. The computing is performed at the site of the device, rather than moving the data between memory and processing. Using the traffic analogy, Xia compares in-memory computing to the nearly empty roads seen at the height of the pandemic: “You eliminated traffic because [nearly] everybody worked from home,” he says. “We work simultaneously, but we only send the important data/results out.”

 

Previously, these researchers demonstrated that their memristor can complete low-precision computing tasks, like machine learning. Other applications have included analog signal processing, radiofrequency sensing, and hardware security.

 

“In this work, we propose and demonstrate a new circuit architecture and programming protocol that can efficiently represent high-precision numbers using a weighted sum of multiple, relatively low-precision analog devices, such as memristors, with a greatly reduced overhead in circuitry, energy and latency compared with existing quantization approaches,” says Xia.

 

“The breakthrough for this particular paper is that we push the boundary further,” he adds. “This technology is not only good for low-precision, neural network computing, but it can also be good for high-precision, scientific computing.”

 

For the proof-of-principle demonstration, the memristor solved static and time-evolving partial differential equations, Navier-Stokes equations, and magnetohydrodynamics problems.

 

“We pushed ourselves out of our own comfort zone,” he says, expanding beyond the low-precision requirements of edge computing neural networks to high-precision scientific computing.

 

It took over a decade for the UMass Amherst team and collaborators to design a proper memristor device and build sizeable circuits and computer chips for analog in-memory computing. “Our research in the past decade has made analog memristor a viable technology. It is time to move such a great technology into the semiconductor industry to benefit the broad AI hardware community”, Xia says.

 

Contacts

Qiangfei Xia, qxia@umass.edu

Julia Westbrook, jwestbrook@umass.edu 413-545-0149

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
New study shows analog computing can solve complex equations and use far less energy New study shows analog computing can solve complex equations and use far less energy 2

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Diverse habitats help salmon weather unpredictable climate changes

Diverse habitats help salmon weather unpredictable climate changes
2024-03-14
Restored salmon habitat should resemble financial portfolios, offering fish diverse options for feeding and survival so that they can weather various conditions as the climate changes, a new study shows. The researchers looked at threatened spring-run Chinook salmon in tributaries of the Sacramento River. It found that restored sites that produce lots of fish may be especially vulnerable to changes such as drought. Such sites should be coupled with other varying sites that support the salmon population in diverse ways. “The fish need all the different ...

Therapy using intense light and chronological time can benefit heart

2024-03-14
AURORA, Colo. (March 14, 2024) – Managing circadian rhythms through intense light and chronologically timed therapy can help prevent or treat a variety of circulatory system conditions including heart disease, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The study was published today in Circulation Research, an official journal of the American Heart Association. “The impact of circadian rhythms on cardiovascular function and disease development is well established,” ...

UW researchers taught kids to code with cultural research and embroidery machines

UW researchers taught kids to code with cultural research and embroidery machines
2024-03-14
Even in tech-heavy Washington state, the numbers of students with access to computer science classes aren’t higher than national averages: In the 2022-2023 school year, 48% of public high schools offered foundational CS classes and 5% of middle school and high school students took such classes. Those numbers have inched up, but historically marginalized populations are still less likely to attend schools teaching computer science, and certain groups — such as Latinx students and young women — are less likely than their peers to be enrolled in the classes even if the school offers them. To reach a greater diversity of grade-school ...

Association for Psychological Science offers new training opportunities to its members with Instats partnership

2024-03-14
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — The Association for Psychological Science (APS), the leading organization serving psychological researchers, practitioners, teachers, and students from around the world, has announced a new partnership that will expand the training and career development resources available to its members.   APS has partnered with Instats, a virtual learning platform offering live and on-demand research training seminars, courses, and workshops. Instats provides its PhD-level programming through its global network of ...

FRYL gene variants linked to a new neurological disorder

2024-03-14
A recent study from the lab of Dr. Hugo J. Bellen, distinguished service professor at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) links the FRYL gene to a new neurodevelopmental disorder in humans. They used fruit flies to establish that the loss of a functional copy of the FRY-like transcription coactivator (FRYL) gene is the underlying cause of this new disorder in fourteen individuals. The study was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. FRYL ...

Age and sex associated with patient’s likelihood of antimicrobial resistance

Age and sex associated with patient’s likelihood of antimicrobial resistance
2024-03-14
A person’s age, sex and location are correlated with the chance that they have a bloodstream infection that is resistant to antibiotics, according to a new study published March 14th in PLOS Medicine by Gwenan Knight of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and colleagues. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), in which infections cannot be treated with antibiotics, is a major global public health threat. Little has been known about how the prevalence of resistance varies with age and sex even though antibiotic usage, changes in immune function, and exposure to high-risk settings are all linked to age and sex. In the new study, researchers analyzed ...

Coronavirus envelope protein is a drug target for new platform for the identification and optimization of peptides against SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus envelope protein is a drug target for new platform for the identification and optimization of peptides against SARS-CoV-2
2024-03-14
Coronavirus envelope protein is a drug target for new platform for the identification and optimization of peptides against SARS-CoV-2   ##### In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology:   http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002522 Article Title: Developing inhibitory peptides against SARS-CoV-2 envelope protein Author Countries: United States Funding: This work was supported by Columbia University Dean’s ...

How fear unfolds inside our brains

How fear unfolds inside our brains
2024-03-14
Our nervous systems are naturally wired to sense fear. Whether prompted by the eerie noises we hear alone in the dark or the approaching growl of a threatening animal, our fear response is a survival mechanism that tells us to remain alert and avoid dangerous situations. But if fear arises in the absence of tangible threats, it can be harmful to our well-being. Those who have suffered episodes of severe or life-threatening stress can later experience intense feelings of fear, even during situations that lack a real threat. Experiencing this generalization of fear is psychologically damaging and can result in debilitating long-term mental health conditions ...

A new world of 2D material is opening up

A new world of 2D material is opening up
2024-03-14
Materials that are incredibly thin, only a few atoms thick, exhibit unique properties that make them appealing for energy storage, catalysis and water purification. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have now developed a method that enables the synthesis of hundreds of new 2D materials. Their study has been published in the journal Science. Since the discovery of graphene, the field of research in extremely thin materials, so-called 2D materials, has increased exponentially. The reason is that 2D materials have a large surface area in relation to their volume or weight. This ...

Discovered: Cellulose-degrading gut bacteria in the human gut, although at lower levels in industrialized countries

2024-03-14
Previously undescribed human gut bacteria that aid in the digestion of plant cellulose are scarce in urban societies but abundant in ancient and hunter-gatherer microbiomes, according to a new study. The findings provide insight into the poorly understood cellulosome-producing bacteria that inhabit the human gut and their response to modern urban diets and lifestyles. Like all mammals, humans rely on the gut microbiome to digest cellulose – the main component of plant fiber and a common element in diets that include plant-based material. Fermentation of dietary fiber via cellulosome-producing ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Multi-resistance in bacteria predicted by AI model

Tinker Tots: A citizen science project to explore ethical dilemmas in embryo selection

Sensing sickness

Cost to build multifamily housing in California more than twice as high as in Texas

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

[Press-News.org] New study shows analog computing can solve complex equations and use far less energy
UMass Amherst research demonstrates that a memristor device can solve complex scientific problems using significantly less energy, overcoming one of the major hurdles of digital computing