AER Filtering Using GLIDER: VHDL Cellular Automata Description

Abstract

Cellular Automata (CA) is a bio-inspired processing model for problem solving, initially proposed by Von Neumann. This approach modularizes the processing by dividing the solution into synchronous cells that change their states at the same time in order to get the solution. The communication between them is crucial to achieve the correct solution. On the other hand, the Address-Event-Representation (AER) is a neuromorphic communication protocol for transferring asynchronous events between VLSI chips. These neuro-inspired implementations have been used to design sensor chips (retina, cochleas), processing chips (convolutions, filters) and learning chips, which makes it possible to develop complex, multilayer, multichip neuromorphic systems. This paper presents the fusion of both bio-inspired solutions for implementing a vision filter based on 3x3 convolutions. The GLIDER software tool for developing CA has been used to implement the filter in VHDL and synthesize it into the Spartan II 200 of the USB-AER.