BrainScaleS Large Scale Spike Communication using Extoll

TL;DR

This paper discusses integrating the BrainScaleS neuromorphic system with Extoll high-speed networking to enable large-scale, multi-wafer neuronal network simulations with improved bandwidth and latency.

Contribution

It introduces the use of Extoll technology for large-scale spike communication in BrainScaleS, enhancing network size and performance capabilities.

Findings

Extoll provides high bandwidth and low latency for BrainScaleS.

Enables modeling of larger neuronal networks across multiple wafers.

Improves communication efficiency in neuromorphic systems.

Abstract

The BrainScaleS Neuromorphic Computing System is currently connected to a compute cluster via Gigabit-Ethernet network technology. This is convenient for the currently used experiment mode, where neuronal networks cover at most one wafer module. When modelling networks of larger size, as for example a full sized cortical microcircuit model, one has to think about connecting neurons across wafer modules to larger networks. This can be done, using the Extoll networking technology, which provides high bandwidth and low latencies, as well as a low overhead packet protocol format.