• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Corporate News
  • Generation
  • Oil & Gas
  • Regulation
  • Renewable
    • Climate
    • Solar
    • Wind
  • Storage
  • Tech
  • T & D
Energy News Desk Logo

Energy News Desk

Energy News and Data

Making big data processing more energy efficient using magnetic circuits

April 13, 2020 by Science Daily

The rapid progression of technology has led to a huge increase in energy usage to process the massive troves of data generated by devices. But researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have found a way to make the new generation of smart computers more energy efficient.

Traditionally, silicon chips have formed the building blocks of the infrastructure that powers computers. But this research uses magnetic components instead of silicon and discovers new information about how the physics of the magnetic components can cut energy costs and requirements of training algorithms — neural networks that can think like humans and do things like recognize images and patterns.

“Right now, the methods for training your neural networks are very energy-intensive,” said Jean Anne Incorvia, an assistant professor in the Cockrell School’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “What our work can do is help reduce the training effort and energy costs.”

The researchers’ findings were published this week in IOP Nanotechnology. Incorvia led the study with first author and second-year graduate student Can Cui. Incorvia and Cui discovered that spacing magnetic nanowires, acting as artificial neurons, in certain ways naturally increases the ability for the artificial neurons to compete against each other, with the most activated ones winning out. Achieving this effect, known as “lateral inhibition,” traditionally requires extra circuitry within computers, which increases costs and takes more energy and space.

Incorvia said their method provides an energy reduction of 20 to 30 times the amount used by a standard back-propagation algorithm when performing the same learning tasks.

The same way human brains contain neurons, new-era computers have artificial versions of these integral nerve cells. Lateral inhibition occurs when the neurons firing the fastest are able to prevent slower neurons from firing. In computing, this cuts down on energy use in processing data.

Incorvia explains that the way computers operate is fundamentally changing. A major trend is the concept of neuromorphic computing, which is essentially designing computers to think like human brains. Instead of processing tasks one at a time, these smarter devices are meant to analyze huge amounts of data simultaneously. These innovations have powered the revolution in machine learning and artificial intelligence that has dominated the technology landscape in recent years.

This research focused on interactions between two magnetic neurons and initial results on interactions of multiple neurons. The next step involves applying the findings to larger sets of multiple neurons as well as experimental verification of their findings.

The research was funded by a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and Sandia National Laboratories, with resources from UT’s Texas Advanced Computing Center.

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Texas at Austin. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Original source: Science Daily

Filed Under: Tech

Primary Sidebar

Join The Daily Charge

This week's top 5 stories in your inbox. No spam ever.

Trending

  • Vineyard Wind Appoints Oytan as Deputy CEO
  • Takkion Holdings Adds O&M Solutions Provider to Offerings
  • Emerson Acquires Open Systems Int. Inc.
  • NV Energy Receives PUCN Approval for Solar+Storage Projects
  • Emerson Agrees to Purchase OSI Inc.
  • CPS Energy Issues RFP Seeking Solar, Energy Storage
  • eia.gov logo EIA expects higher wholesale U.S. natural gas prices in 2021 and 2022
  • The Detective Work Behind Wind Energy
  • National Grid, TenneT Partner to Explore Interconnectivity of British, Dutch Wind Farms
  • Leeward Completes Construction, Financing on Mountain Breeze Wind Farm

Footer

Trending

  • Vineyard Wind Appoints Oytan as Deputy CEO
  • Takkion Holdings Adds O&M Solutions Provider to Offerings
  • Emerson Acquires Open Systems Int. Inc.
  • NV Energy Receives PUCN Approval for Solar+Storage Projects
  • Emerson Agrees to Purchase OSI Inc.

Recent

  • Quick Tips To A Sustainable Future
  • Stem Provides Smart Energy Storage Solutions to Today’s Power
  • EIA's AEO2021 shows U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions rising after the mid-2030s
  • Homeowners associations still a barrier for some would-be solar customers
  • Commentary: With open standards, U.S. can build EV charging infrastructure faster

Search

Contact Us

Write For Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · EnergyNewsDesk.com