Evolutionary Hardware Dmitry Berenson

What is Evolutionary Hardware? Automated Digital Circuit Design Automated Digital Circuit Design Automated Analog Circuit Design Automated Analog Circuit Design Automated VLSI Layout Design Automated VLSI Layout Design Automated Filter Design Automated Filter Design Automated Controller Design Automated Controller Design Automated Antenna Design Automated Antenna Design Fault Tolerance Fault Tolerance

Previous Work Adrian Thompson (1996) – FPGA Tone Discriminator Adrian Thompson (1996) – FPGA Tone Discriminator Layzell et al. (1998) – Evolvable Motherboard Layzell et al. (1998) – Evolvable Motherboard Flockton and Sheenan (1998) – Intrinsic Evolution of analog circuits on Zetex TRAC chip Flockton and Sheenan (1998) – Intrinsic Evolution of analog circuits on Zetex TRAC chip Stoica and Zebulum ( ) – FPTA and SABLES Stoica and Zebulum ( ) – FPTA and SABLES

Our Goals Evolve a circuit to perform a given task Evolve a circuit to perform a given task Perform on-chip evolution Perform on-chip evolution Introduce new FPAA (Anadigm) to research community Introduce new FPAA (Anadigm) to research community

Why Do Analog? Analog circuit design is more of an art than a science. Analog circuit design is more of an art than a science. –That means it’s really hard. Software simulation has problems Software simulation has problems –Solving circuit equations (differential) takes a lot of CPU time. –Software is still inaccurate –There is an accuracy-to-speed tradeoff for simulation

The Setup FPAA FPAA –Anadigm AN221E04 –Lattice ispPAC30 Computer Computer –Gets Samples –Computes Fitness –Runs Genetic Algorithm –Programs FPAA A/D Converter A/D Converter –Dataq DI-158U The Setup

Anadigm Chip - Features Circuits created according to routing table Circuits created according to routing table Uses Configurable Analog Blocks (CAB) Uses Configurable Analog Blocks (CAB) Dynamically Reprogramable (SRAM) Dynamically Reprogramable (SRAM) CABs can contain multiple modules CABs can contain multiple modules

Anadigm Chip - Modules List of Modules Modules (CAMs) are software “blocks” Modules (CAMs) are software “blocks” Modules correspond to routings in hardware Modules correspond to routings in hardware 28 Modules Total 28 Modules Total Each Module has it’s own settings Each Module has it’s own settings –This will be hard to work with when doing evolution

Anadigm Chip - Procedure Place modules Place modules Make connections Make connections –Another problem: some blocks have more than 2 connections Download to chip Download to chip Placement/Connections can be automated through C++ commands Placement/Connections can be automated through C++ commands –“Not Officially Released” Anadigm Designer Interface

Anadigm Chip – Search Space A CAB can only hold 2-3 modules (CAMs) A CAB can only hold 2-3 modules (CAMs) –a safe number of total modules is around 6 Search space is roughly: Search space is roughly: (28^6)(Connections)(Module Specific Options) = Big The plan: have 6 modules, evolve their type, settings and interconnections The plan: have 6 modules, evolve their type, settings and interconnections

Current Status A/D converter sampling and FPAA iterative programming all running from one MFC application A/D converter sampling and FPAA iterative programming all running from one MFC application Ready to start running Genetic Algorithms Ready to start running Genetic Algorithms Want to start small (only a couple CAMs) Want to start small (only a couple CAMs)

Your Suggestions Representation Representation –Individuals with 6 genes. Gene: (CAM type, connection 1, connection 2, setting 1, setting 2…) Gene: (CAM type, connection 1, connection 2, setting 1, setting 2…) –Variable Length Strings? –Keeping track of CAM types – options and connections –Linkage – any block that has a path to output affects all other blocks following in that path –Fitness Function – sum of errors Applications Applications –Controller –Filter –Arbitrary Function