< architecture > (CNN) The CNN Universal Machine is a low cost, low power, extremely high speed supercomputer on a chip. It is at least 1000 times faster than equivalent DSP solutions of many complex image processing tasks. It is a stored program supercomputer where a complex sequence of image processing algorithm s is programmed and downloaded into the chip, just like any digital computer. Because the entire computer is integrated into a chip, no signal leaves the chip until the image processing task is completed.
Although the CNN universal chip is based on analogue and logic operating principles, it has an on-chip analog-to-digital input-output interface so that at the system design and application perspective, it can be used as a digital component, just like a DSP. In particular, a development system is available for rapid design and prototyping. Moreover, a compiler , an operating system , and a user-friendly CNN high-level language , like the C language, have been developed which makes it easy to implement any image processing algorithm.
[Professor Leon Chua, University of California at Berkeley].
(1995-04-27)