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technology requires a very long pitch between two adjacent windows. Therefore,
as the number of metal layers increases, the quantity of connections we can gain
using flip-chip technology decreases. According to the technology roadmap, the
maximum number of metal layers we might have in the near future is around 11 to
14 layers. Therefore, we still could obtain some amount of increased interconnec-
tions with flipped chips.
17.6. CONCLUSIONS
A carbon nanotube synapse typical of cortical synapses has been designed and
simulated using SPICE. While the simulations were successful, the design of a
single typical synapse is only a small step along the path to a synthetic cortex.
The variations in synapses, including inhibitory synapses, will be the focus of
future research. Predicting the interconnection capabilities of nanotube circuits is
also important in understanding the future prospects for a synthetic cortex.
Predictions of cortex size and interconnection capabilities highlight the necessity
of using nanotechnology in providing a solution to the synthetic cortex design
problem.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We acknowledge helpful suggestions of Bartlett Mel, Larry Swanson, Michel
Baudry, Judith Hirsh, Norberto Grzywacz, and Gil Case regarding this research.
H. S. Philip Wong, Jie Deng, Chongwu Zhou and Kyoungmin Ryu provided
important research results without which the carbon nanotube synapse
design could not have been possible. Jason Sanders was helpful in the under-
standing of the carbon nanotube models. Support for this research has been
provided by the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern
California.
REFERENCES
1. K. Boahen. Neuromorphic microchips. Scientific American, pp 56-63, May 2005.
2. A. C. Parker, A. K. Friesz, and A. Pakdaman. Towards a nanoscale artificial cortex. In:
Proceedings of The 2006 International Conference on Computing in Nanotechnology
(CNAN'06): June 26-29, 2006.
3. H. Moravec. When will computer hardware match the human brain? Journal of
Transhumanism, 1: March 1998.
4. J. Hawkins and S. Blakeslee. On Intelligence. New York: Times Books, 2004.
5. J. Bebel, B. Raskob, A. Parker, and D. Bebel. Managing Complexity in an Autono-
mous Vehicle. In: Proceedings of PLAN 2006, San Diego: 2006.
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