Thesis (Ph. D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-158). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

In recent years neuromorphic computing systems have achieved a lot of success due to its ability to process data much faster and using much less power compared to traditional Von Neumann computing architectures. There are two main types of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Feedforward Neural Network (FNN) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). In this thesis we first study the types of RNNs and then move on to Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs). SNNs are an improved version of ANNs that mimic biological neurons closely through the emission of spikes. This shows significant advantages in terms of power and energy when carrying out data intensive applications by allowing spatio-temporal information processing. On the other hand, emerging non-volatile memory (eNVM) technology is key to emulate neurons and synapses for in-memory computations for neuromorphic hardware. A particular eNVM technology, memristors, have received wide attention due to their scalability, compatibility with CMOS technology and low power consumption properties. In this work we develop a spiking neural network by incorporating an inter-spike interval encoding scheme to convert the incoming input signal to spikes and use a memristive crossbar to carry out in-memory computing operations. We develop a novel input and output processing engine for our network and demonstrate the spatio-temporal information processing capability. We demonstrate an accuracy of a 100% with our design through a small-scale hardware simulation for digit recognition and demonstrate an accuracy of 87% in software through MNIST simulations. / M.S. / In recent years neuromorphic computing systems have achieved a lot of success due to its ability to process data much faster and using much less power compared to traditional Von Neumann computing architectures. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are models that mimic biological neurons where artificial neurons or neurodes are connected together via synapses, similar to the nervous system in the human body. here are two main types of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Feedforward Neural Network (FNN) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). In this thesis we first study the types of RNNs and then move on to Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs). SNNs are an improved version of ANNs that mimic biological neurons closely through the emission of spikes. This shows significant advantages in terms of power and energy when carrying out data intensive applications by allowing spatio-temporal information processing capability. On the other hand, emerging non-volatile memory (eNVM) technology is key to emulate neurons and synapses for in-memory computations for neuromorphic hardware. A particular eNVM technology, memristors, have received wide attention due to their scalability, compatibility with CMOS technology and low power consumption properties. In this work we develop a spiking neural network by incorporating an inter-spike interval encoding scheme to convert the incoming input signal to spikes and use a memristive crossbar to carry out in-memory computing operations. We demonstrate the accuracy of our design through a small-scale hardware simulation for digit recognition and demonstrate an accuracy of 87% in software through MNIST simulations.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Modern fluorescence microscopy modalities, such as light-sheet microscopy, are capable of acquiring large three-dimensional images at high data rate. This creates a bottleneck in computational processing and analysis of the acquired images, as the rate of acquisition outpaces the speed of processing. Moreover, images can be so large that they do not fit the main memory of a single computer. Another issue is the information loss during image acquisition due to limitations of the optical imaging systems. Analysis of the acquired images may, therefore, find multiple solutions (or no solution) due to imaging noise, blurring, and other uncertainties introduced during image acquisition. In this thesis, we address the computational processing time and memory issues by developing a distributed parallel algorithm for segmentation of large fluorescence-microscopy images. The method is based on the versatile Discrete Region Competition (Cardinale et al., 2012) algorithm, which has previously proven useful in microscopy image segmentation. The present distributed implementation decomposes the input image into smaller sub-images that are distributed across multiple computers. Using network communication, the computers orchestrate the collective solving of the global segmentation problem. This not only enables segmentation of large images (we test images of up to 10^10 pixels) but also accelerates segmentation to match the time scale of image acquisition. Such acquisition-rate image segmentation is a prerequisite for the smart microscopes of the future and enables online data inspection and interactive experiments. Second, we estimate the segmentation uncertainty on large images that do not fit the main memory of a single computer. We there- fore develop a distributed parallel algorithm for efficient Markov- chain Monte Carlo Discrete Region Sampling (Cardinale, 2013). The parallel algorithm provides a measure of segmentation uncertainty in a statistically unbiased way. It approximates the posterior probability densities over the high-dimensional space of segmentations around the previously found segmentation. / Moderne Fluoreszenzmikroskopie, wie zum Beispiel Lichtblattmikroskopie, erlauben die Aufnahme hochaufgelöster, 3-dimensionaler Bilder. Dies führt zu einen Engpass bei der Bearbeitung und Analyse der aufgenommenen Bilder, da die Aufnahmerate die Datenverarbeitungsrate übersteigt. Zusätzlich können diese Bilder so groß sein, dass sie die Speicherkapazität eines einzelnen Computers überschreiten. Hinzu kommt der aus Limitierungen des optischen Abbildungssystems resultierende Informationsverlust während der Bildaufnahme. Bildrauschen, Unschärfe und andere Messunsicherheiten können dazu führen, dass Analysealgorithmen möglicherweise mehrere oder keine Lösung für Bildverarbeitungsaufgaben finden. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit entwickeln wir einen verteilten, parallelen Algorithmus für die Segmentierung von speicherintensiven Fluoreszenzmikroskopie-Bildern. Diese Methode basiert auf dem vielseitigen "Discrete Region Competition" Algorithmus (Cardinale et al., 2012), der sich bereits in anderen Anwendungen als nützlich für die Segmentierung von Mikroskopie-Bildern erwiesen hat. Das hier präsentierte Verfahren unterteilt das Eingangsbild in kleinere Unterbilder, welche auf die Speicher mehrerer Computer verteilt werden. Die Koordinierung des globalen Segmentierungsproblems wird durch die Benutzung von Netzwerkkommunikation erreicht. Dies erlaubt die Segmentierung von sehr großen Bildern, wobei wir die Anwendung des Algorithmus auf Bildern mit bis zu 10^10 Pixeln demonstrieren. Zusätzlich wird die Segmentierungsgeschwindigkeit erhöht und damit vergleichbar mit der Aufnahmerate des Mikroskops. Dies ist eine Grundvoraussetzung für die intelligenten Mikroskope der Zukunft, und es erlaubt die Online-Betrachtung der aufgenommenen Daten, sowie interaktive Experimente. Wir bestimmen die Unsicherheit des Segmentierungsalgorithmus bei der Anwendung auf Bilder, deren Größe den Speicher eines einzelnen Computers übersteigen. Dazu entwickeln wir einen verteilten, parallelen Algorithmus für effizientes Markov-chain Monte Carlo "Discrete Region Sampling" (Cardinale, 2013). Dieser Algorithmus quantifiziert die Segmentierungsunsicherheit statistisch erwartungstreu. Dazu wird die A-posteriori-Wahrscheinlichkeitsdichte über den hochdimensionalen Raum der Segmentierungen in der Umgebung der zuvor gefundenen Segmentierung approximiert.