TrueNorth is a chip IBM manufactured but it’s quite different from your run-of-the-mill CPU. It’s been termed a “cognitive chip” and it is the closest resemblance to a human brain we’ve manufactured. While the average Joe might boast about having a CPU that has 8 cores, TrueNorth has 4,096 cores which combine to create nearly a million digital neurons which lead to over 256 million synapse connections. And now, Samsung has decided to take it and connect it to its Dynamic Vision Sensor to process images differently, yet rapidly at the same time.
The result is a camera that can record at a rate of 2,000 frames of video per second. Typical digital cameras max out at 120 frames per second. Furthermore, the combination of the DVS with TrueNorth lets each pixel operate independently of one another, and will only react if there’s a visual change to register. The high speed could be useful for creating 3D maps or gesture controls according to Samsung. At a press event in San Jose, the company demonstrated its ability to control a TV as it recognized hand waves and finger pinches from ten feet away.
Moreover, the TrueNorth based system is incredibly efficient, consuming only 300 milliwatts of power. To put it in perspective that’s a hundredth of what a laptop processor needs. This results in less heat being emitted meaning that Samsung can stack chips together; IBM already does so with 16-chip packages. Currently, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is working on integrating TrueNorth with traditional supercomputers.
Perhaps Samsung will find a way to integrate TrueNorth into its smartphones, like the Samsung Galaxy Note 7?
Source: CNET
