# US 2023/0056865 A1 · Method and apparatus with artificial network generation and/or implementation corresponding to a natural neural network

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- Number: US 2023/0056865 A1
- Document ID: US20230056865A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/869,940
- Filed: 2022-07-21
- Published: 2023-02-23
- Earliest claimed: 2021-08-19
- Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; President and Fellows of Harvard College
- Applicants: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; President and Fellows of Harvard College
- Inventors: Seijoon Kim; Renjing Xu; Hongkun Park; Donhee Ham; SANG JOON KIM
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20230056865A1

## CPC

- G06N 3/061: {using biological neurons, e.g. biological neurons connected to an integrated circuit}
- G06N 3/049: Temporal neural networks, e.g. delay elements, oscillating neurons or pulsed inputs
- G06N 3/063: using electronic means
- G06N: COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS

## Abstract

A method and apparatus with artificial network generation and/or implementation corresponding to a natural neural network are disclosed. The method includes performing an adjusting, based on a firing time difference between an action potential (AP) of a first biological neuron and a post-synaptic potential (PSP) of a second biological neuron, of a first conductance value of a first memory corresponding to the first and second biological neurons, adjusting the firing time difference based on the PSP of the second biological neuron, and performing another adjusting, by controlling another firing time difference between the AP of the first biological neuron and the PSP of the second biological neuron to be the adjusted firing time difference, of a second conductance value of the first memory corresponding to the first and second biological neurons.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method with artificial neural network generation, the method comprising:
performing an adjusting, based on a firing time difference between an action potential (AP) of a first biological neuron and a post-synaptic potential (PSP) of a second biological neuron, of a first conductance value of a first memory corresponding to the first and second biological neurons;
adjusting the firing time difference based on the PSP of the second biological neuron; and
performing another adjusting, by controlling another firing time difference between the AP of the first biological neuron and the PSP of the second biological neuron to be the adjusted firing time difference, of a second conductance value of the first memory corresponding to the first and second biological neurons.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising resetting a conductance of the first memory after the adjusting of the first conductance value and before the other adjusting of the second conductance value.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the second conductance value is same as the first conductance value upon the resetting of the conductance of the first memory.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the performing of the adjusting of the first conductance value includes performing the adjusting of the first conductance value when the firing time difference is less than or equal to a threshold value.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising converting the PSP of the second biological neuron into a pulse signal,
wherein the firing time difference between the AP of the first biological neuron and PSP of the second biological neuron is a time difference between the AP of the first biological neuron and a firing time of the pulse signal.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, wherein the first memory is a memory corresponding to a first cross point of a crossbar memory, and
wherein performing of the adjusting of the first conductance value and the performing of the other adjusting of the second conductance value respectively include connecting the AP of the first biological neuron to a first electrode of the crossbar memory and connecting the PSP of the second biological neuron to a second electrode of the crossbar memory, where the first electrode and the second electrode overlap at the first cross point.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein the overlapping of the first electrode and the second electrode at the first cross point includes the first electrode connecting to a first terminal of a resistive memory and the second electrode connecting to a second terminal of the resistive memory at the cross point.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the first memory is a memory corresponding to a cross point of a crossbar memory, where first electrodes of the crossbar memory overlap second electrodes of the crossbar memory at respective cross points of the crossbar memory.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8,
wherein the performing of the adjusting of the first conductance value of the first memory includes providing signals from first biological neurons to respective first electrodes of the crossbar memory, and providing signals from second biological neurons to respective second electrodes of the crossbar memory, and
wherein connection relationships between pairs of the first biological neurons and the second biological neurons are indicated by first memories of cross points of the crossbar memory with adjusted first conductance values.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein plural biological neurons of the first biological neurons are also plural biological neurons of the second biological neurons.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the performing of the other adjusting of the second conductance value includes performing the other adjusting for only second conductance values of the first memories corresponding to the cross points of the crossbar memory with the adjusted first conductance values.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein signals of first biological neurons are provided to the first electrodes and signals of second biological neurons are provided to the second electrodes, and
wherein the performing of the adjusting of the first conductance value further comprises adjusting first conductance values of first memories, of different cross points of the crossbar memory that respectively correspond to different pairs of the first and second biological neurons, corresponding to first pairs of the first and second biological neurons that have firing time differences less than or equal to a threshold value, representing that the each of the first pairs have pre-/post-synaptic relationships.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein the performing of the other adjusting of the second conductance value includes performing the other adjusting of only the first memories corresponding to the first pairs.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the performing of the other adjusting of the second conductance value includes selectively performing the other adjusting based on determinations of which of first memories, corresponding to different pairs of first and second biological neurons, were adjusted in the performing of the adjusting of the first conductance value selectively for each of the different pairs of the first and second biological neurons.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting of the firing time difference comprises adjusting a firing time corresponding to the PSP of the second biological neuron based on an amplitude of the PSP of the second biological neuron.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining the AP of the first biological neuron and the PSP of the second biological neuron in real-time.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
selectively adjusting another conductance value of the first memory based on a counted number of pairs, of PSPs of the second biological neuron and APs of the first biological neuron, having respective firing times within a first threshold, within a predetermined time window,
wherein the adjusting of the conductance value is performed a number of times equal to the counted number, resulting in the first conductance value.

### Claim 18 (depends on 1)

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of claim 1.

### Claim 19

A method with artificial neural network generation, the method comprising:
determining a conductance value of a first memory corresponding to first and second biological neurons based on a counted number of pairs, of post-synaptic potential (PSPs) of the second biological neuron and action potentials (APs) of the first biological neuron, having respective firing times within a first threshold, within a predetermined time window.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, further comprising counting the number of pairs, of the PSPs of the second biological neuron and the APs of the first biological neuron, that have the respective firing times within the first threshold,
wherein the determining of the conductance value of the first memory further comprises determining the conductance value of a cross point memory, of a crossbar memory, corresponding to the first and second biological neurons in response to the first and second biological neurons being determined to have a pre-/post-synaptic relationship based on the counted number.

### Claim 21 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, wherein the determining of the conductance value further comprises adjusting the conductance value whenever a firing time difference between an AP of the first biological neuron and a firing time of a PSP of the second biological neuron is less than or equal to the first threshold.

### Claim 22 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, further comprising converting a PSP of the second biological neuron into a pulse signal,
wherein the determining of the conductance value of the first memory further comprises determining the conductance value of a cross point memory of the first memory based on a timing difference between an arrival time of an AP of the first biological neuron and an arrival time of the pulse signal of the second biological neuron.

### Claim 23 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, further comprising obtaining the APs of the first biological neuron and the PSPs of the second biological neuron in real-time.

### Claim 24

A method with artificial neural network generation, the method comprising:
selectively adjusting a conductance value of a first memory corresponding to first and second biological neurons based on a counted number of pairs, of post-synaptic potential (PSPs) of the second biological neuron and action potentials (APs) of the first biological neuron, having respective firing times within a first threshold, within a predetermined time window.

### Claim 25 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24, wherein the adjusting of the conductance value is performed a determined number of times.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, wherein the selective adjusting includes selecting the adjusting of the conductance value in response to the counted number being greater than or equal to a threshold.

### Claim 27 (depends on 26)

The method of claim 26, wherein the determined number of times is equal to the counted number.

### Claim 28 (depends on 25)

The method of claim 25, further comprising performing another adjusting, based on a firing time difference between an AP of the first biological neuron and a PSP of the second biological neuron, of a first conductance value of the first memory,
wherein the first conductance value is a resultant conductance value of the adjusting of the conductance value the determined number of times.

### Claim 29 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24, wherein the first memory is a memory corresponding to a cross point of a crossbar memory, where first electrodes of the crossbar memory overlap second electrodes of the crossbar memory at respective cross points of the crossbar memory.

### Claim 30 (depends on 29)

The method of claim 29,
wherein the selective adjusting includes providing signals from first biological neurons to respective first electrodes of the crossbar memory, and providing signals from second biological neurons to respective second electrodes of the crossbar memory, and
wherein connection relationships and strengths between pairs of the first biological neurons and the second biological neurons are indicated by corresponding first memories of cross points of the crossbar memory that have adjusted conductance values resulting from the selective adjusting.

### Claim 31 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24, further comprising counting the number of pairs, of the PSPs of the second biological neuron and the APs of the first biological neurons, that have the respective firing times within the first threshold, and
determining that the first and second biological neurons have a pre-/post-synaptic relationship in response to the counted number being greater than or equal to the second threshold value.

### Claim 32 (depends on 24)

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of claim 24.

### Claim 33

An electronic device comprising:
a crossbar memory having first electrodes, including a first electrode, that overlap second electrodes, including a second electrode, of the crossbar memory at respective cross points of the crossbar memory, with the first electrode and the second electrode overlapping to respectively connect to a first memory at a first cross point of the crossbar memory; and
a processor configured to:
control a provision of an action potential (AP) of a first biological neuron to the first electrode, and a provision of a post-synaptic potential (PSP) of a second biological neuron to the second electrode, to selectively adjust, based on a firing time difference between the AP of the first biological neuron and the PSP of the second biological neuron, a first conductance value of the first memory;
adjust the firing time difference based on the PSP of a second biological neuron; and
control another provision of the AP of the first biological neuron to the first electrode and the PSP of the second biological neuron to the second electrode, having the adjusted firing time difference between the AP of the first biological neuron and the PSP of the second biological neuron, to selectively adjust a second conductance value of the first memory.

### Claim 34 (depends on 33)

The device of claim 33, wherein the processor is further configured to control a resetting of a conductance of the first memory after the first conductance value is adjusted and before the second conductance value is adjusted.

### Claim 35 (depends on 34)

The device of claim 34, wherein the second conductance value is same as the first conductance value upon the resetting of the conductance of the first memory.

### Claim 36 (depends on 33)

The device of claim 33, wherein the first conductance value is adjusted in response to the firing time difference being less than or equal to a threshold value.

### Claim 37 (depends on 33)

The device of claim 33, wherein the processor is further configured to:
convert the PSP of the second biological neuron into a pulse signal; and
perform the control of the provision of the PSP of the second biological neuron to the second electrode by providing the pulse to the second electrode, and perform the control of the other provision of the PSP of the second biological neuron to the second electrode by providing the pulse to the second electrode,
wherein the firing time difference between the AP of the first biological neuron and the PSP of the second biological neuron is a time difference between the AP of the first biological neuron and a firing time of the pulse signal, and
wherein the adjusted firing time difference is between the AP of the first biological neuron and the pulse signal corresponding to the adjusted firing time difference.

### Claim 38 (depends on 33)

The device of claim 33, wherein, for the adjustment of the firing time difference, the processor is configured to adjust a firing time corresponding to the PSP of the second biological neuron based on an amplitude of the PSP of the second biological neuron.

### Claim 39

An electronic device comprising:
a crossbar memory having first electrodes, including a first electrode, that overlap second electrodes, including a second electrode, of the crossbar memory at respective cross points of the crossbar memory, with the first electrode and the second electrode overlapping to respectively connect to a first memory corresponding to a first cross point of the crossbar memory; and
a processor configured to control a provision of action potentials (APs) of a first biological neuron to the first electrode, and a provision of post-synaptic potentials (PSPs) of a second biological neuron to the second electrode, to selectively adjust a conductance value of the first memory based on a counted number of pairs, of the PSPs of the second biological neuron and the APs of the first biological neuron, having respective firing times within a first threshold, within a predetermined time window.

### Claim 40 (depends on 39)

The device of claim 39, wherein the control of the provision of the APs of the first biological neuron to the first electrode and the provision of the PSPs of the second biological neuron, includes providing respective APs of the first biological neural and respective PSPs of the second biological neuron a number of times equal to the counted number of pairs to adjust the conductance value of the first memory based the counted number of pairs.

### Claim 41 (depends on 39)

The device of claim 39, wherein the processor is further configured to count the number of pairs, of the PSPs of the second biological neuron and the APs of the first biological neuron, that have the respective firing times within the first threshold, and
in response to the counted number being greater than or equal to a threshold, perform the provision of the APs of the first biological neuron and the provision of the PSPs of the second biological neuron.

### Claim 42 (depends on 39)

The device of claim 39, wherein the processor is further configured to convert a PSP of the second biological neuron into a pulse signal, and
determine the conductance value of a cross point memory of the crossbar memory based on a timing difference between an arrival time of an AP of the first biological neuron and an arrival time of the pulse signal of the second biological neuron.

### Claim 43 (depends on 39)

The device of claim 39, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the APs of the first biological neuron and the PSPs of the second biological neuron in real-time.

### Claim 44

A method with artificial neural network generation, the method comprising:
obtaining action potentials (APs) of a first biological neuron of a natural neural network and post-synaptic potentials (PSPs) of a second biological neuron of the natural neural network;
determining a first conductance value of a first cross point memory corresponding to the first and second biological neurons, as a first mode;
determining a second conductance value of a second cross point memory corresponding to the first and second biological neurons, as a second mode; and
determining a final conductance value of a final cross point memory based on at least one of the first conductance value and the second conductance value,
wherein the determining of the first conductance value comprises:
adjusting, based on a firing time difference between an AP of the first biological neuron and a PSP of the second biological neuron, a conductance value of the first cross point memory;
adjusting the firing time difference based on the PSP of the second biological neuron; and
controlling another firing time difference between the AP of the first biological neuron and the PSP of the second biological neuron to be the adjusted firing time difference, and based on the controlled other firing time difference, adjusting another conductance value of the first cross point memory, to be the first conductance value, and
wherein the determining of the second conductance value comprises counting a number of pairs, of the PSPs of the second biological neuron and the APs of the first biological neuron, that have respective firing times within a first threshold, and selectively adjusting a conductance value of the second cross point memory based on the counted number of pairs, to be the second conductance value.

### Claim 45 (depends on 44)

The method of claim 44, wherein the first cross point memory, the second cross point memory, and final cross point memory are a same cross point memory.

### Claim 46

An electronic device comprising:
a crossbar memory having first electrodes, including a first electrode, that overlap second electrodes, including a second electrode, of the crossbar memory at respective cross points of the crossbar memory, with the first electrode and the second electrode overlapping to respectively connect to a first memory corresponding to a first cross point of the crossbar memory; and
a processor configured to:
obtain action potentials (APs) of a first biological neuron of a natural neural network and post-synaptic potentials (PSPs) of a second biological neuron of the natural neural network;
determine a first conductance value of a first cross point memory corresponding to the first and second biological neurons, as a first mode;
determine a second conductance value of a second cross point memory corresponding to the first and second biological neurons, as a second mode; and
determine a final conductance value of a final cross point memory based on at least one of the first conductance value and the second conductance value.

### Claim 47 (depends on 46)

The device of claim 46, wherein the processor is further configured to:
adjust, based on a firing time difference between an AP of the first biological neuron and a PSP of the second biological neuron, a conductance value of the first cross point memory;
adjust the firing time difference based on the PSP of the second biological neuron; and
control another firing time difference between the AP of the first biological neuron and the PSP of the second biological neuron to be the adjusted firing time difference, and based on the controlled other firing time difference, adjust another conductance value of the first cross point memory, to be the first conductance value.

### Claim 48 (depends on 46)

The device of claim 46, wherein the processor is further configured to count a number of pairs, of the PSPs of the second biological neuron and the APs of the first biological neuron, that have respective firing times within a first threshold, and selectively adjusting a conductance value of the second cross point memory based on the counted number of pairs, to be the second conductance value.