Invited: Neuromorphic architectures based on augmented silicon photonics platforms

TL;DR

This paper presents a vision for neuromorphic accelerators utilizing integrated photonics with phase-change and III-V materials, supported by a CMOS-compatible platform and simulation tools for system-level benchmarking.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integrated photonic platform for neuromorphic computing and a simulation framework for performance evaluation.

Findings

Development of a CMOS-compatible photonic neuromorphic platform

Simulation of accelerator performance with RISC-V integration

Benchmarking results for speed, energy, and size

Abstract

In this work, we discuss our vision for neuromorphic accelerators based on integrated photonics within the framework of the Horizon Europe NEUROPULS project. Augmented integrated photonic architectures that leverage phase-change and III-V materials for optical computing will be presented. A CMOS-compatible platform will be discussed that integrates these materials to fabricate photonic neuromorphic architectures, along with a gem5-based simulation platform to model accelerator operation once it is interfaced with a RISC-V processor. This simulation platform enables accurate system-level accelerator modeling and benchmarking in terms of key metrics such as speed, energy consumption, and footprint.