CoCoUnit: processors of the future for smart computer systems
ALLINONE: More energy efficiency in wireless networks
February 1, 2020
Blockchain technology applied to urban mobility
January 4, 2020CoCoUnit is a new processing unit for incorporation into existing processor units (general purpose cores, GPUs, etc.) that will be capable of developing cognitive functions with extremely high energy efficiency. The new unit will make new user experiences that require cognitive functions possible in real time in numerous devices, including mobile devices (such as smart phones and portable devices) and servers in data centres.
This innovative unit, developed by the Architectures and Compilers (ARCO) research group led by Antonio González, will contribute to the development of what is already known as cognitive computing. Through new architectures inspired by the brain, the aim is to expand the capacities of information systems so that they can develop tasks that are traditionally associated with human intelligence such as voice recognition, automatic translation, speech synthesis, image classification or object recognition. In short, the aim is to give computers learning, synthesis and reasoning capacities similar to those developed by the human brain.
Like the brain, the future CoCoUnit will be based on massively parallel architecture with extremely simple units, as it has been found that many simple units are more energy efficient than a few complex units.
The new unit will reduce data movement. The von Neumann architecture that is currently used in processors has enormous energy costs as data have to be moved around the system: all the instructions and operands must be extracted from the memory and sent to the execution units, and the results must be written again in the memory hierarchy. The interconnections for moving the data consume most of the energy of a microprocessor. Reducing these movements could therefore represent considerable energy efficiency benefits.
CoCoUnit will also include specialised hardware for some key functions and will be based on a different computing model, focused on ‘intelligence': learning, rather than ‘imperative programming’ will play a key role in this new approach. In addition, the new unit will explore resilience and approximate computing for greater energy efficiency.
This project has received an Advanced Grant, the highest award given by the European Research Council (ERC) to research projects at the frontiers of knowledge. The project began in September 2019 and will last five years, with funding of 2.5 million euros.
Technology
Topic
You want to know more?
Related Projects
- MobilitApp is an application capable of predicting the mode of transport used by citizens using a deep learning tool based on three mobile phone sensors.
- The aim of the Muvity project in which the Multimedia Applications and ICTs Laboratory (LAM) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) participates, is to develop a gamified physical telerehabilitation application for people with chronic injuries. The user carries out exercises and plays games designed with therapists that lead them to move their arms and legs and thus achieve the established goals.
- Researchers from the Advanced Broadband Communications Centre (CCABA) and the Optical Communications Group (GCO) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) participate in the B5G-OPEN (Beyond 5G – OPtical nEtwork coNtinuum) project. This project is funded by the European Union, in the framework of which a new end-to-end integrated packet-optical transport architecture based on multiband optical transmission and switching networks is being designed and prototyped.
- Autonomous vehicles are a reality that we are getting closer to gradually but inevitably. The Centre for Sensors, Instruments and Systems Development (CD6) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) has developed technologies for this type of vehicles that improve safety on journeys. To meet the needs of perceiving the environment at long range, a very complete set of sensors has to be developed, including cameras, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and radar.
