Abstract
Neuromorphic systems are used in variety of circumstances: as parts of sensory systems, for modeling parts of neural systems and for analog signal processing. In the sensory processing domain, neuromorphic systems can be considered in three parts: pre-transduction processing, transduction itself, and post-transduction processing. Neuromorphic systems include transducers for light, odors, and touch but so far neuromorphic applications in the sound domain have used standard microphones for transduction. We discuss why this is the case and describe what research has been done on neuromorphic approaches to transduction. We make a case for a change of direction toward systems where sound transduction itself has a neuromorphic component.
Highlights
Neuromorphic systems are electronic implementations of neural systems: originally in Mead (1989) the implementations were analog VLSI circuits, but more recently the term has come to be applied to digital VLSI and FPGA systems as well
We briefly review what transduction in the auditory system needs to be able to provide for this post-processing, and consider the same question for neuromorphic systems
The accessibility of cheap yet effective microphones has meant that the transduction stage has relied on these, unlike the transduction stages of other sensory neuromorphic systems
Summary
Neuromorphic systems are electronic implementations of neural systems: originally in Mead (1989) the implementations were analog VLSI circuits, but more recently the term has come to be applied to digital VLSI and FPGA systems as well. Sensory system emulation has been one of the main elements of neuromorphic systems from the beginning primarily because it offers the possibility of real-time sensory processing, and this is critical in (e.g.,) autonomous robot applications Both real and synthetic sensory systems can be considered in three parts: 1. There is generally feedback of control information, adjusting the characteristics and operating point of the initial transducer, and possibly of the stimulus domain processing (see Figure 1) What is it that makes a sensory system neuromorphic? Neuromorphic systems for many types of animal senses have been implemented, but visual, olfactory, and to some extent tactile systems have included developed transduction elements, auditory systems so far have almost always used standard microphones as the signal transducer (step 2 above).
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